An Unexpected Alliance
by disneyfan421
Summary: When Cora unleashes a new curse on Storybrooke, Emma is forced to unite with Captain Hook to save her son, but what started as a simple alliance to get to the fairy tale world might turn into something much more. I do not own Once Upon A Time or anything like that. :)
1. Chapter 1

Emma and Captain Hook: A (hopefully awesome) Fan Fiction

Takes place a few days after Emma gets back from Manhattan with Gold, Henry, and Neal (-.-)

Storybrooke had been quiet since Emma had gotten back, too quiet for her liking. She had fully anticipated that with her and Gold gone, Regina and Cora would attempt to destroy the town, but Storybrooke remained the same since she had gotten back, with one minor exception, Neal.

"Emma, he's my son, I think I have the right to get to know him." Neal followed her towards Granny's late on Thursday night.

"Get to know him! Neal, you have had ten years to get to know him, and you never tried. You don't deserve to get to know him." Emma stared him down, waiting for a reply.

"Emma, please." Neal was practically begging her, but Emma shook her head. "You lost your chance a long time ago, get out of here." She turned to walk away, but Neal grabbed her arm "Emma, I'm not going to give up on this, on either of you." He pulled her close, and was leaning in for a kiss when he was interrupted by a tap on the shoulder.

"Excuse me sir, but I believe you were asked to leave, and it is rude to ignore a lady's request." Emma looked up to see Hook standing behind Neal.

Neal turned around to face him, "This is a private matter Mr…" he glared at Hook menacingly.

"Hook. Captain Hook, though as you can see, my beloved hook is missing at the moment." He stared at Emma, "Hopefully not for long though. Besides, if this was a private matter, perhaps you should discuss this…in private." He leaned in near Neal, never letting down his gaze.

Neal backed away slowly, "Fine," then turning to Emma, "This isn't over" before taking off.

Emma wanted to smile, she had gotten rid of Neal, but she was now stuck with Hook, and she wasn't sure if he was a better alternative. "Thanks, I don't have the patience to deal with him right now…or ever."

Hook smirked at her "Don't worry darling, I'm sure that you can make it up to me somehow."

Emma rolled her eyes; she really didn't need this right now. "What do you want now?"

He smiled and gestured to his arm "I would like my hook back if you please, seeing as how I was released, I don't think that you are allowed to hold on to it." He leaned in close and whispered in her ear: "Although, I could think of something else that I wanted instead. If the hook is too much trouble." He backed away to watch her reactions to his remarks.

Emma sighed; he never backed down "No, you're right, I need to return your hook to you. I'll be sure to do that on Saturday." She smirked at his disappointed smile and turned to enter Granny's before calling it a night.

Saturday Morning

"I wanna come with you!" Henry begged his mom, though he had read about Captain Hook in the stories, he hadn't met him in town yet.

"Henry, for the last time, you are not coming with me. Hook may seem cool in the stories, but he is dangerous, and I don't want you going near him." Emma was almost certain Hook wouldn't hurt Henry, but there were other people who could be threatening, and she wasn't going to risk losing him.

"Mom! You could be in danger too! If I go with you, we can protect each other!" Henry was clearly desperate to meet him, but Emma was not budging on the subject.

"Henry, I am your mother, I am responsible for you, and I am not risking your safety by bringing you on a pirate ship." Henry went to speak again, but Emma cut him off with a loud "NO!"

"No what?" Mary Margaret asked stepping out of the bathroom looking curiously at her daughter and grandson.

"Mom is going to see Captain Hook and she won't let me come along because it is too dangerous." Henry yelled before Emma could speak. If he couldn't convince Emma, maybe he could convince Mary Margaret.

"What Henry is TRYING to say," she began glaring at her son, "Is that Hook demanded his hook back, and since I can't think of a compelling reason to give it back to him, I have to return it to him. Henry wants to go with me, but it is too dangerous." Emma looked at her mom, sure that she would see reason.

"Actually…" Mary Margaret began shooting Emma an apologetic look "I think Henry should go with you."

"WHAT?!" Emma glared at her mom, this was not the answer she was looking for.

"Well…" she continued carefully, "While Hook is dangerous, I don't think he would hurt Henry, and Henry will find him regardless of what you say, at least now you can make sure he is safe." Mary Margaret winced as Emma stared daggers at her.

"See Mom! Now there is no reason why you can't say no! Even Mary Margaret agrees with me." The triumphant smile on Henry's face was apparent, and Emma couldn't help but smile. "Alright, let's get this over with." And with that they left the apartment.

On a normal day, Emma might have walked down to the docks, but with Cora and Regina lurking around, she didn't want to risk anything. Her and Henry climbed into the yellow punch buggy and drove to the police station to pick up the hook.

David seemed pleasantly surprised to see them: "Emma, I thought the point of us sharing this job was that you didn't come in all the time." He smiled down at Henry: "How you doing Henry?" Emma winced; David was not going to like this one bit.

"We're going to get the hook to give back to Captain Hook!" he said excitedly walking to the desk drawer where the item was locked away. David's look turned from a smile to a frown: "What do you mean you're going to see Captain Hook, Henry that is dangerous, I can't believe that Emma would let you do that." David looked at Emma waiting for an explanation.

"Call your wife, this one is on her." Emma said as she proceeded to unlock the draw to retrieve the captain's hook, showing that she was not happy about the arrangements either.

"Alright, well, call me when your back, or if there is any trouble." David was trying to hide the worried expression on his face.

"We will!" Henry called back cheerfully, "Come on mom, let's go!" Henry was running outside excitedly. Emma went to follow him, but was interrupted by David.

"Emma, be careful, please." With Henry's back turned, the concern was more apparent on his face. "We will." Emma promised before following Henry out of the sheriff station.


	2. Chapter 2

**Sorry about the delay in the new chapter, work and sleep are a necessary evil. Anyways, this chapter eludes to something happening in the future ;) Hope you enjoy it!**

The entire car ride to the docks, Henry was bouncing, literally jumping in his seat. "Is he like Captain Jack Sparrow, or is he more like the Disney Captain Hook?" Emma was forced to suppress a giggle at the idea of Hook in a ridiculous feather hat.

"He is…different." Emma allowed herself to say, the appropriate words for Hook were not appropriate for her son to hear.

"Different how?" Henry pressed on eagerly, the kid wasn't giving up.

"How does your book describe him?" Emma asked, trying to avoid more memories of Hook creeping into the back of her mind.

"Well, it says that he was the most feared pirate in all the realms. That he could command any crew, they said he is a villain, but I don't believe it." Henry stated matter-of-factly.

Emma was startled, "You don't think he is a villain?" All interactions with him had convinced her that he was bad news, yet Henry seemed determined to see the good in him.

"Well, I mean, they say my mom is the bad guy, and that Rumplestiltskin is a bad guy, but they both have good sides, why can't Hook have a good side too?"

"Because…" Emma tried to continue, but her thoughts were torn. On the one hand, he had helped them get the compass; on the other hand, he only helped so that he could get to Storybrooke and kill Gold.

Henry interrupted her train of thought: "I'm just saying, I think that he may have a good side, just like everybody else here. He just hasn't shown it yet." He seemed set on believing that Hook had a good side, and she didn't want to argue with him: "Whatever you say kid".

At this point, they pulled up to the docks and she watched amused as Henry's jaw dropped, "Is that it? Is that his ship?" She smiled and nodded, "It's the only pirate ship I see." But her son didn't seem to notice her sarcastic remark; he was too busy gawking at the ship. "That's awesome!" and with that, Henry leapt out of the car and ran towards the pirate ship.

"Henry, wait for me!" she said getting out of the car, but he had already disappeared onto the ship. _He is way too impatient for his own good_ she thought to herself as she headed onto the deck, her eyes searching for Henry. "Henry?" she asked hesitantly. "Henry, where are you?" she tried to hide the panic in her voice as she headed towards the front half of the ship, thinking he might want to see the view.

"Oh dear, was that your son running on my deck, I thought it might have been an intruder, and I don't particularly like intruders." Came a deep voice from behind her. Emma turned around, and was almost nose to nose with Hook.

"Hook, so help me if you hurt my son, I will make losing your hand seem like child's play." She tried to keep the worry out of her voice, but she still didn't see Henry.

Hook leaned in close: "I've missed you too love" and gave his signature wink as he pulled away.

"MOM! THIS IS SO COOL! I'M STEERING A PIRATE SHIP!" Came a voice from the back of the ship. Relief flooded through Emma as she walked towards the sound of the noise, and saw Henry hiding behind the captain's wheel.

"Henry, are you making sure that my ship is sailing straight?" he asked brushing past Emma towards Henry. Emma couldn't help but feel surprised at the change in his voice when he spoke to Henry.

"Of course Captain." Henry smiled and saluted him proudly. _Yup, this was definitely a bad idea_ Emma thought to herself, she thought she say the slightest hint of a smile on Hook's face, but she dismissed it quickly, _Hook doesn't smile unless he is taunting someone._

"So, Henry, what brings you aboard the Jolly Roger today?" Hook asked, all the while staring at Emma.

"Oh! Emma brought you a present! And I wanted to meet you, so she let me come along!" Emma breathed in sharply; there was no way Hook would let go of that one.

"Oh really?" he smiled taking a step towards her, "And what kind of present am I getting lass?' he winked at her again, and Emma rolled her eyes. She held up the bag holding his hook and handed it to him: "As promised." He didn't bother to hide the look of disappointment on his face, and he allowed his fingers to linger on her hand for longer than necessary.

"Thank you very much love." And much quieter to ensure Henry didn't hear "Though I might have preferred a different type of payment from you." Emma strode past him, resisting the urge to punch the smirk off his face.

"Time to go Henry" she said sternly, wanting to get as far away from Hook as quickly as possible.

"No way! I haven't asked Captain Hook any of my questions yet!" He replied running towards Hook. Emma sighed, "Oh no, I let you come with me, you're not going to convince me to stay forever. Besides, you have homework that you need to do." She crossed her arms, determined not to give in like last time.

"But I did my homework already, and we haven't even been here for that long, right Captain?" Henry looked eagerly at Hook, and Hook broke out into a smile, "By all means, stay as long as you like, you are no trouble to me." He flat out ignored the glare that Emma was giving him.

"See mom, Captain Hook says that I can stay! So you can go, and I'll just stay here." And with that Henry sat down on the deck defiantly.

"Oh no, Hook says that you can stay, but I can't, and you cannot stay by yourself, so you are coming home with me." Emma was sure that if Hook knew what was good for him, he would agree and send Henry home. Unfortunately, Hook was in no mood to humor Emma, "No, both of you are more than welcome to stay." He winked at Emma again and then walked towards Henry, "So what's your first question Henry?" Emma was seething at this point, but before she could speak, Henry asked his first question.

"How many treasures have you found?" he asked eagerly. Emma watched with horror as Captain Hook sat next to her son and started talking about buried treasure.

"Well, I have found too many treasures to count, some were easy to find, and some were difficult." He looked up at Emma before he spoke again, "But I love a challenge." Emma replied with another eye roll.

"Really? What was the hardest treasure you've ever had to find?" Henry was oblivious to the looks Hook was giving his mother, too entranced by the story.

"Well, I found one treasure that I didn't get to keep, it's a good story." He looked at Henry's eager face, and began.

"See, there was this special item that I needed to obtain to get here, to Storybrooke, a magic compass. Now, this compass was legendary, it could point you in the direction of wherever you wanted to go, just by touching it, so naturally, it was well protected." Hook watched as Henry listened intently, realizing that Emma had never told her son what happened on the beanstalk.

"Go on!" Henry said eagerly.

"Well, the compass was in a treasure room guarded by the last living giant in the fairytale world, the rest had been wiped out by Jack the Giant Killer. So, I was supposed to go up with someone to fight the giant and get the compass, but at the last minute, plans changed and I went up with someone else." He glanced at Emma a moment before continuing: "Now this was a tough lass, smart, good instincts, and not to mention beautiful; so she and I climbed the beanstalk together, and knocked out the giant with some sleeping powder."

"Wow! You guys took on a giant and won! But if you beat the giant, how did you lose the compass?"

"Well, we knocked the Giant out, but his treasure room was huge, and we couldn't find it before the Giant woke up. I got trapped under some rocks, and she fought the giant herself, tricked him into his own trap, and then got the compass. When we had gotten all the rocks off me, I went to look at the compass, and she chained me to the wall." His face twitched, and Emma noted the anger in his eyes.

"She locked you up! How could she?" Henry demanded.

Hook gave Emma a look before continuing, "Well, I was stuck in the giant's castle, quite livid might I add, but the more I thought about it, the more I was not surprised that she abandoned me. You see, she was hurt a long time ago by someone that she cared about, someone that she may have even loved. Now she can't trust anyone, sure, a few people have broken through her outer shell, but she won't trust anyone, especially not a pirate like me." Emma avoided Hook's piercing blue eyes, he was right about everything of course, Neal had betrayed her, and she never allowed anyone in after that.

"She should have trusted you; you wouldn't have hurt her, would you?" Henry interrupted; he really wanted to see the good side in Hook.

"No, I wouldn't have hurt her" Emma watched him carefully, _damn, he was telling the truth, _she almost felt bad for leaving him behind, _no, she had to get to Henry, she was right to leave him behind. _"But we can't change the past, only learn from our mistakes." He shot Emma another look, and this time she met it, was that…determination is his voice?

"Well, Henry, we really need to get back, it's already…" she checked her watch "Oh my god, its 4:30, we need to get back home." She reached a hand out to pick up Henry.

"Mom, do we have to?" Henry said taking her hand reluctantly. Emma nodded, "Yes, we need to get back to Mary Margaret and David." Henry frowned but followed her to the edge of the ship regardless.

"Well, if it is anything to you, I wouldn't mind if you came back soon Henry, and even you love." He said nodding towards Emma.

Henry's eyes lit up, and Emma smiled reluctantly, "We'll see." Hook gave a half grin and Henry was beaming. "Goodbye Captain!" Henry shouted, "See you soon!" and he walked off the ship towards Emma's car.

"Bye Hook" Emma said turning to leave, but before she was gone he grabbed her wrist with his hook. "See you soon love." He winked and kissed her hand before he headed below deck.

_He is the most aggravating person I have ever met _Emma thought to herself, but she couldn't ignore the tingling feeling in her hand.


	3. Chapter 3

**On to Chapter 3 guys! Hooray! Thanks for reading! Seriously, I logged onto , and saw people had followed and favorited and I got seriously excited and finished Chapter 2 as soon as I could. Anyways, this chapter is going to be a bit shorter than the others, and is going to be told from Hook's perspective, rather than Emma's. Read, comment, critique, and all that good stuff. And now, without further ado, Chapter 3.**

Hook almost hesitated as he approached the door to the huge white house, _why are you hesitating Hook, if Cora sees you hesitate, she will say you're weak and deny you your revenge._ He shook the idea out of his head as he walked inside to find Regina and Cora, he had to focus on the here and now.

"Ah, Hook, so nice of you to join us." Cora smiled sweetly at him, _whatever her plan was, everything was falling into place, Cora is so easy to read. _"Cora, Regina, always a pleasure." He nodded his head towards Regina, who remained in the corner with her arms crossed.

"Indeed. So what brings you here Hook?" Cora asked still smiling. Hook took a deep breath before he answered her "Did you find the knife?" he said, watching Cora's expression "No, we haven't found it." She wasn't lying either, not that he could tell at least, and he was good at reading Cora.

"It doesn't matter, we'll all be gone anyways, or at least most of us." Regina replied striding towards Hook._ Gone, what does she mean we will be gone, what exactly was Cora planning._

"Oh my dear Regina, you'll spoil the surprise." Cora replied smiling wickedly at Hook.

"I'm not one for surprises anyways, what is she talking about Cora." Hook's tone turned threatening.

"Don't worry, this won't interfere with your little revenge plot, in fact, it will probably make it even easier", and now it was Hook's turn to smile wickedly. "And how exactly, did you manage that?"

"Not just yet Captain, you will need to be patient for a few more days, long enough for the magic beans to be finished growing." Hook gave Cora a perplexed look and she laughed at him for it. _What could the magic beans have to do with the Crocodile?_ "What exactly are you planning Cora?" he knew that whatever it was, it was big, and he would prefer to be prepared for whatever was to come.

"My plan, well, my plan is to get back home to the Enchanted Forest, and maybe even bring back a few others." Hook watched her, and knew that she was hiding something from him, and he didn't like it one bit, _time to turn on the charm._

"Cora" he said taking a step closer and leaning in "Why do you want to leave Storybrooke, you only just got here."

"You're right Hook, but Storybrooke is not my home, or Regina's, besides, my magic here is weak, if I want to run a kingdom, I have to be home, where my power is the strongest." _So, she is returning home with Regina, but why the charade, why mention it unless…_ His thoughts trailed off as realization dawned on him. "You're going to curse Storybrooke, and send everyone back to the fairy-tale world." As he said it out loud, he knew the words were true by the reaction on Regina's face.

"So smart, but not completely accurate. I have no intention of bringing everyone back to the fairy-tale world, just those that I want to see, or want to see suffer." She finished darkly, "For instance, I see no reason to bring Rumplestiltskin back to the fairy-tale world, what could he do but cause trouble for me, or the Charming's daughter for that matter, though my grandson is coming with, he can learn so much with guidance from Regina." She smiled and Hook smiled back, knowing full well that she was only leaving the people that had the power to stop her behind.

"And how exactly does that help in my revenge against the Crocodile?" he pressed on.

"Well that's simple, steal the beans that the dwarves are making, and use them to travel through the realms until you are powerful enough to defeat Rumplestiltskin, and then you can come back and have your revenge." Cora stared at him, and he smiled maliciously.

"Excellent, I shall finally have my revenge on the Crocodile, when will you cast the curse?" he asked.

"The curse is already complete, we are just waiting for the opportunity to take Henry, as soon as he is ours, we will cast the spell." Cora replied, "But it won't be long now."

"Well, then I guess that I have some magic beans to steal then, don't I?" Hook smiled at the two women before he turned and left the house.


	4. Chapter 4

**Hi everyone! So, I hope you all are enjoying the story so far. :)**

Emma slammed the phone down so hard it shook her entire desk, and startled poor David.

"Emma? What was that?" he asked her tentatively, waiting for her to throw something against the wall.

"That was Leroy" Emma's tone was furious, "Someone stole the magic beans" putting on her red leather jacket as she spoke.

"What?!" David cried in shock.

Emma nodded grimly, "Yes, they were taken sometime during the night. One of the dwarves was supposed to be on watch, but he was knocked out, and when he woke up, the beans were gone. Every single one of them." She turned towards the desk in search of her car keys, but could not find them.

"Well, let's head to the fields and see if we can find out who did this, we have to get those beans back as soon as possible." The worry in his voice was apparent, Cora and Regina hadn't been seen in weeks, and while that was somewhat of a relief, it meant that they were planning something big, and that thought was incredibly worrying.

"No need." She said triumphantly pulling her keys out of the bottom of her purse. "I already know who took them, and I'm going to make sure that I get them back." She was walking to the door when David stopped her.

"Wait, how do you know who took them without seeing what happened?"

"Because, the thief was kind enough to leave me a note saying that I could have them back if I cooperated." The fire in her eyes was growing, and David knew that he couldn't stop her from going, wherever it was.

"At least let me come with you, you can't face Cora and Regina alone." And Emma laughed "Cora and Regina, I only wish it was them." She watched as his brow furrowed in confusion before she finally finished, "They would be easier to deal with than Hook." And before David could stop her, she was out the door. She was grateful that he didn't follow her, David would have tried to calm her down and to deal with Hook, she needed to be angry.

Emma was at the docks in less than five minutes, feeling her anger rise at the sight of his ship. _And you wonder why I didn't trust you, because the moment I consider it you pull this shit. _She slammed the car door shut, shouting every obscenity she could think of as she walked onto the deck of the Jolly Roger.

"With language like that, you really could be a pirate love." Hook was standing at the front of his ship watching her in amusement. "I certainly hope that Henry isn't around to hear such language."

"Where the hell are they Hook?" she had stopped shouting, but her tone was deadly.

"Whatever are you talking about Swan?" he asked innocently, not bothering to mask the smirk on his face.

Emma stood her ground as he walked slowly towards her, "You know exactly what I'm talking about, where are the magic beans you stole from the dwarves?" she demanded.

"Oh, you mean the beans that allow you to travel among the different realms as you please? Can't say that I've seen them." He said it so casually it was impossible to not get angry.

"Hook, don't play games with me, I know you took them, give them back." He was now within arm's reach, and it was taking all of her composure to not strangle the smug pirate.

"But games are so much fun, especially when facing a worthy opponent." He was now nose to nose with her, and Emma was forced to take a step back.

"So help me Hook, if you don't tell me where they are, I will arrest you and throw your sorry ass in jail."

"Best be careful lass." He replied smugly, "If I didn't know any better, I'd say you like having me in handcuffs."

As Emma went to take another step back, her back met with the ship, _shit, time to change tactics._

"So, what did you do? Steal the beans for Cora?" she accused. Hook's face lost the smugness for a moment, as anger flashed through his eyes, but he recovered quickly.

"No, Cora won't be needing the beans." He replied cooly.

_Not need the beans, so he does know what she is up to. _"So you did steal them, why?" she needed answers.

Hook leaned in close to her before speaking "Because I need them."

"Why do you need them?" She watched his face carefully, searching for lies that weren't there.

"Well darling, I need them to travel around the realms, what else would I use magic beans for?" He answered her question, but not the way she wanted him to.

"Obviously, but you went through a hell of a lot of trouble to get to Storybrooke, why leave now?"

"Because I don't want to be in Storybrooke when Cora unleashes her wrath." _Cora unleash her wrath, so he knows what her plans are, why won't he give me a straight answer._

"So you know what Cora's planning, care to enlighten the rest of the class Hook?" she leveled her gaze with him, and was suddenly aware of how close he was to her, she needed to get answers and get out of there fast, before Hook tried to pull something.

"Cora plans to unleash a curse that will bring everyone back to their realms, or, most of them." Emma was shocked, but Hook wasn't lying, still, one thing he said bothered her: "What do you mean she plans to bring back MOST people?" she stared him down waiting for a reply.

"Cora wants to rule the Enchanted Forest with her daughter; she doesn't plan to bring back anyone that could stop her, including Rumplestiltskin and you." It was his turn to watch her carefully.

Emma once again remembered the scene at the lake when Cora tried to rip out her heart, but couldn't: "So what? People go back to the Enchanted Forest, you sail around, my family and Rumplestiltskin are in Storybrooke, I fail to see why you are telling me this."

"Swan, I said that you were staying in Storybrooke, not your family. Cora isn't threatened by your parents, only you, destroying them will be too easy. As for your other family, rest assured that Cora could not convince Regina to join her without taking Henry."

"WHAT?" Emma screamed, a thousand thoughts running through her mind all at once, "Over my dead body" and with that, she pushed past Hook to get off the ship, but before she reached the edge, an explosion was heard coming from the center of town. As Emma turned to see what happened, she saw purple smoke slowly rise from in front of the clock tower, and spread slowly over Storybrooke.


	5. Chapter 5

**So, this section is going to be told from Hook's perspective, since I had a lot of fun writing from his perspective in Chapter 3, and because...well, you'll see. Hope you enjoy it :)**

Hook watched as the purple smoke made its way through town, wondering where Regina and Cora were, _probably in the middle of town smiling at their triumph. _He turned to see Emma frozen in place, watching with horror as the purple smoke enveloped town hall, then the sheriff's station, then Gold's shop. Hook took a step towards her, waiting for her to come to her senses.

"Swan?"

Emma shook her head and looked at him, she had the same look when she was trapped in Rumplestiltskin's cell, anger and defeat. "Swan?" he said again, and just like that, she was walking towards the stairs, about to leave: _What the bloody hell is this woman doing?_

Despite his still sore ribs, Hook managed to grab her arm before she reached the stairs, "Swan, what the hell are you doing?" She turned, and her eyes were filled with pure hatred, "I'm going to stop Cora and save my son." But as she tried to walk, Hook's grip tightened.

"Hook, let me go." Despite her best efforts, she couldn't break free from him. _You can't just go and stop Cora, the curse is already cast, there is no stopping it now, besides, what could you do to save Henry, nothing. You'd be as good as dead if you tried to save them. _Hook stopped himself from thinking further on the subject: "No." his tone was defiant, _I'm not going to watch you walk to your death. _

"Why the hell not?" Emma was angrier than he had ever seen her before, which was a startling thought considering he had felt that way just a short time ago when she boarded his ship. "Swan, think about what you are doing right now, you know as well as I do that this curse can't be stopped, not now." He refrained from saying any of the other thoughts that were swimming through his mind, and focused on her blazing green eyes.

"I don't care, I have to find Henry." She broke free from his grip and started to march down the stairs. _Goddammit Swan, for once in your life don't be stubborn. _"Henry is already gone. You know that as well as I do." This made her pause, and he continued "Swan, the last time a curse was cast like this; no one remembered who they were. What if you step into that fog and forget your son?" he highly doubted that Cora would let Emma forget her son, but testing it was far too risky.

"Then by all means, tell me what the hell I am supposed to do Hook. Tell me what the savior is supposed to do to stop all this." Emma turned to face him, defeat in her eyes, there was nothing that she could do to protect her son, and Hook hated not seeing the determination that he had come to admire in her. _Think Hook, if Emma steps in the smoke, she may lose her memory, and even if she can reach the city limits in time, she can't get back to the Enchanted Forest without a spell…or a… bean. _Hook looked up, and watched the smoke creep slowly towards the docks, _if you do this, you have to do it now._ One more glance at Emma was all he needed.

"Come with me." He said, watching her eyebrows furrow in confusion.

"Come with you…come with you where?" she said. _She wasn't flat out saying no, that was progress. _"Listen to me, Henry, Regina, Cora, and everyone else are headed back to the Enchanted Forest by the curse, but you will still be here at the end of it all."

"Yeah, we have already established that." She interrupted. _Does the word listen not exist in your vocabulary Swan? _

"You need a way to get to the fairy-tale world without a curse, I have a way."

"How?" she asked skeptically. _After all this time, she still didn't bloody trust him, _he couldn't understand why it bothered him so much.

"The magic beans. They allow you to travel to other realms, including the Enchanted Forest, that's how Cora and I got here in the first place." He winced at the memory of travelling with Cora. "I can escape the curse using the magic beans, and so can you." He reached out his hand, "Come with me Emma." The gesture in and of itself seemed like nothing, but Hook knew that it was everything, _if you take my hand, you're learning from your mistake, your trying to trust someone. If you do this, I'll make sure you don't regret that decision. If you take my hand, I promise that I will do everything in my power to protect you, and I will do everything I can to help you get your son back._ His words hung in the air, and Emma looked at his open hand with hesitation, she reached up to grab something at her neck, as if out of habit, but there was nothing there. She stared down in surprise, then realization, and slowly, hesitatingly, she reached out and grabbed hold of his hand.

Hook let out a sigh of relief, and pulled her up towards him, "We have to move quickly", and he walked towards the front of his ship, "Lift the sails on this side while I take the other side." She nodded wordlessly and started undoing knots on the side closest to her while he went to the other side to do the same thing. They finished each side at the same time,_ how did she learn to do that, I have to ask her about that latter,_ and he lifted the anchor, wincing at the pain shooting through his abdomen. _Damn these ribs. _Ignoring the pain, he went to the steering wheel, and pulled away from the docks effortlessly. The curse had increased the wind, and he was grateful for it, if the wind had been blowing in the opposite direction, he may not have picked up the speed he needed.

"You might want to hold onto something, it's going to be a bit of a bumpy ride love." He dug in his pocket for the magic bean that would take them somewhere other than Storybrooke. Emma obediently grabbed onto the railings of the ship, and Hook looked over at her, the determination was back in her eyes, and he couldn't help but smile in admiration. He reached out and threw the bean as hard as he could into the water, watching as the waters churned in front of him, spiraling out of control.

"Where are we going?" Emma spoke up for the first time since he had told her to come with him.

He smiled, "Well, I need a crew to man this ship, and we need to take some time to figure out how to defeat Regina and Cora. He glanced over at her, and she was staring back at him, waiting for a response. He smiled wickedly "We're going to Neverland!" he shouted as the ship dove into the swirling waters of the Storybrooke bay before disappearing completely.


	6. Chapter 6

**Off to Neverland! Well...sort of. Thanks for reading, comment, critique, and all that other fun stuff :)**

_Emma, what the hell were you thinking, what compelled you to think that this was a good idea? _Standing on the deck of the Jolly Roger, Emma stared out at the deep blue…ocean? _Are there oceans in Neverland, or is it just one giant lake? _Emma's train of thought was interrupted by the sound of approaching footsteps.

"Beautiful isn't it?" Hook asked, stopping next to her to gaze out at the water.

"Yeah, it is beautiful, I suppose." Not wanting to admit her admiration for the view.

"You suppose?" he turned to face her, and Emma noticed how his eyes seemed to match the color of the water. "Well…" the sound of his voice brought her back to reality, "I'd say that the water is the second most beautiful thing I've seen today." He gave his signature smirk, and Emma replied with an eye roll._ If he thinks he can bait me, he clearly doesn't know me._

"Well, I do have to admit that Neverland is beautiful, I can understand why you stayed here for so long." She smiled satisfied; dodging Hook's advances had become entertaining.

"Indeed, though I think I would put Neverland as #3 on my list, and the water as #2." He glanced in her direction, and she avoided his gaze. _Focus Swan, you need to get out of here, you need to find your son, not banter with a pirate._

"So, do you have a plan Hook?" She needed to focus on Henry, rather than the pirate standing in front of her.

He turned towards her, and Emma caught herself staring into his dark blue eyes again; Hook watched amused for a moment, before finally speaking up. "Well, my ship is anchored for now, so I have time to work out a plan."

"So you don't have a plan?" Emma concluded. _Great, time for me to start thinking._

"Well love, ingenious plans take time." He smiled, and tucked a piece of hair behind her ear; Emma ignored the tingling feeling from where his hand had brushed her skin, "Especially if I am distracted by the likes of a beautiful woman." Emma rolled her eyes again.

"Ingenious plans, well, if you would tell me what we are doing here, perhaps we could work on an ingenious plan together." As much as she tried to deny it, her and Hook made a good team, and if they worked together, they could get what was needed from Neverland.

"Work on a plan, Emma, I'm sure that I could think of many, much more enjoyable things that we could do together." he winked at her, and she responded with another eye roll, Captain Hook did not know how to take a hint.

"Focus Hook." She said, hiding the annoyance in her voice.

"Swan, I can assure you that I am focusing on something intently." _No, apparently Captain Hook cannot take a hint. _

"The plan Hook, we need to focus on making a plan." She said, noting the disappointment on his face, and choosing to ignore it.

"Yes, we do" he said looking back up into Emma's eyes, "Well, the plan, in and of itself isn't complicated, but the execution of said plan, now that is a bit more of a challenge."

"I thought you liked a challenge Hook?" Emma replied, almost immediately regretting her words.

"Oh, believe me, I do." He smirked at her before continuing, "However, this challenge has a little less...well, let's just say that this challenge doesn't have nearly as nice of an award." Emma rolled her eyes, a gesture that was clearly going to be over used when she was with Hook.

"So what is this great big challenge that we have to face?" Emma was not backing down from a fight against anyone.

"Not what love, who?" he replied. _Note to self, Captain Hook cannot take a hint, and he cannot give a straight answer, that makes things so much easier!_

"Fine, **who **is this challenge?" she emphasized the who to ensure that she would get a straight answer this time.

"Emma, do you remember when we were climbing the beanstalk, and I said that I had spent many years in Neverland, home of the Lost Boys?" he asked, of course Emma remembered, it had brought back many painful memories of abandonment that she was determined to forget.

"Let me get this straight, the so-called most notorious pirate in all the realms, can't take down a few 11 year olds?" she laughed at the thought of Hook being chased by a bunch of little boys holding wooden swords, clearly making him angry.

"Laugh all you want love, but they are smarter than you give them credit for. They have lived on this island for hundreds of years, they know this island like the back of their hand, and they are not to be underestimated." Hook gave her a serious look, but Emma had a hard time believing that a few kids could really stop her from finding Henry.

"Hook, I have faced the most notorious witch in the realms, Rumplestiltskin, a dragon, a pirate, ogres, I don't think that I can get hurt by a bunch of eleven year old kids who spend their days hunting Indians." She tried not to sound offended by his assumption, but it was hard to when he implied that she couldn't take care of herself.

"Rest assured, the Lost Boys would not hurt you, but they can be mischievous and cause some major delays in our trip if we are not careful." Hook remained serious, but the Lost Boys were the last issue on Emma's mind.

"So, what is the plan that involves avoiding the Lost Boys?" Emma asked sarcastically, even if the kids were trouble, she was sure that they wouldn't be a threat to her.

"Well, as much as I enjoy alone time with you, I need a crew to man my ship." He reached into his pocket and pulled a small, folded up piece of parchment, and handed it to Emma. Emma tried her best to unfold it carefully, and when it was fully open, she looked at it confused. The parchment had several markings of trees, and rocks, and in the top right hand corner, was a small x.

"A treasure map?" she questioned looking at Hook, "My son's life is in danger, and you want to hunt for buried treasure?" Emma was getting impatient, she needed to find Henry and return to Storybrooke, not look for some stupid treasure that probably wasn't even there.

"You're quite perceptive darling; it is indeed a treasure map. And yes, I fully intend to search for it, I can only obtain a crew if I have incentive, and as much of an incentive as you might be darling, I'm not very fond of sharing. Therefore, I need some other form of payment, and alas, I have no gold at the moment, so I am forced to search for it in Neverland. Fortunately, I am quite good at finding things, and with your assistance, we will be sailing out of Neverland in no time."

As much as Emma hated to admit it, Hook was right, he needed a crew to sail the ship, and she was not providing any incentive for anyone, including Hook. "Fine, you need a crew, and I need to find my son. Let's go find some treasure." Hook smiled wickedly, "Careful lass, the more you talk, the more you're starting to sound like a pirate." Emma rolled her eyes, "Let's just get this over with."


	7. Chapter 7

**So, this chapter is significantly longer than the others, but I really couldn't fins a good stopping point, so I just went with it. I'll warn you ahead of time, that there will be a lot of Emma and Hook discussion in this one, both good and bad, so I hope you enjoy. :)**

Emma had to admit, Neverland was beautiful, minus the endless amounts of trees that seemed to be attacking her. They had been walking for a few hours now, and though she wouldn't admit it, she was grateful when Hook turned around and said it was time to stop for lunch.

"Lunch!" Emma said hesitantly, "And what exactly is for lunch?" he looked up at her and smiled.

"Rest assured darling, it is edible." And with that he pulled two large fish out of his satchel and began to build a fire.

"Where did you get those?" she asked with a raised eyebrow. She wasn't eating anything Captain Hook prepared, especially if she didn't know where he got it from.

"A pirate never reveals his secret, love." He smirked at her.

"I thought that was a magician." She countered.

Hook looked at her with a confused expression, "What's a magician?" Emma couldn't help but laugh, "I don't understand why not knowing a magician is amusing to you Swan." He clearly did not like when she laughed at him.

"It's someone who pretends to have magic to entertain people. Seeing as how this world has magic, you probably don't have any…magicians that is." She said in between bits of laughter, though Hook's confusion was funny, his annoyance at her laughing was hilarious.

"I see, well, magic is not all that entertaining in my opinion." He tried to hide the frustration in his tone, but Emma saw right through him.

"I never thought so either, still don't actually but here we are."

"Yes, here we are, which reminds me, Swan there is something I have been meaning to ask you." He said, looking at her with a serious expression.

Emma hesitated for a moment, _what is with the serious look, if he asks me about Neal, I'm not telling him anything. _Emma felt the walls come back up "What is it?"

"Well, it occurred to me that you knew how to hoist the sails, you were quite good at it too. Are you sure you aren't a pirate, because the more I see you, the more convinced I am." Emma winced a bit at the memory, which was observed by Hook, "It was just an observation, no one can do that without some experience on a ship." His tone was just a little softer than normal, which she appreciated.

"It's just…" _It's just that if I tell you, then I'm telling you one story that only one person knows about me, and that's Neal. Damnit Swan, why are you doing this to yourself, he is a pirate, and he cannot be trusted, no matter how genuine he looks. _Her judgment seemed to be fighting a losing battle though, Hook had agreed to help her save Henry, one small insight into her life was not going to give him enough edge to hurt her in the future. "One of my adopted families had a boat." She looked up and noticed that Hook was watching her intently. "Well, we, the family and I, used to go out on the boat a lot when I was with them, they showed me how to work the sails and steer a little, the sails on your boat are similar, so it wasn't that hard to figure out."

"Ship." He interrupted.

"What?"

"I have a ship lass, not a boat." He seemed insulted that anyone could confuse a boat with his beloved ship.

"Fine, the sails on your SHIP were similar." She repeated, emphasizing the word ship.

"Thank you." He said quietly, the look he gave her made her feel like he wasn't thanking her for the ship correction.

"Well anyways, I don't know much more about boats than that, never really got the chance to." She stopped herself before she could talk more. _What are you doing Swan? Opening up yourself to more questions, this is a bad idea._

"Never got the chance to learn more?" he questioned, encouraging her to continue on, but she shook her head. "I don't think so; you don't get to know all about my life when I know nothing about yours." _He is not going to get a chance to one up me later on. _

"I don't think that one little story counts as knowing all about your life Emma. But if you want to play it like that, I'll make a deal. Finish your story and you can ask me something about my past." Hook looked at her and knew he won, her curiosity and chance to be on an equal playing field were too much to pass up.

"Fine, I was only there for six months. We were coming back from a movie when the car we were in got side-swiped, I walked out without a scratch, but I was the only one who made it." Emma winced at the painful memory, the few moments that she had had with them were the only happy memories of her childhood.

"Well, I guess I should be more grateful that I only broke a few ribs then." he gave her a smile, _this is not the Captain Hook that I know._ "Alright then, a deal's a deal, ask me any question you want, I promise that I will answer honestly." His tone was lighter, trying to make her smile, and she was grateful that he didn't push her any more than that.

_Ask a question about Captain Hook, you could ask anything you wanted to Swan, what is his weakness, what was Milah like, anything. _"How did you become a pirate?" the question was out before she realized it. _Way to go Swan, wasting a golden opportunity on something stupid like that._

"How I became a pirate? Interesting. Well, it's not a very entertaining story, but if you insist." And he began his tale:

"It sounds cliché, but ever since I can remember I loved the sea. My mother and father and I lived very close to the water, so every time I needed to escape, I would go to the ocean to clear my head, it helped me forget the real world." He paused a second before continuing, Emma had never seen him talk like this before, except in the brief moments that he talked of Milah. "My father was not the most…gentle person when it came to his family. One night, he was screaming at my mother for something, I can't even remember what it was about, so I left to get away from him. I came back a few hours later and she was gone. I searched for my mother everywhere, but I couldn't find her, and I had my suspicion that she wasn't meant to be found. So I went back to the water. My mother was the only reason that my father hadn't killed me, and I knew that if I went back, I would surely be dead. While I was walking, an older gentlemen came across me and asked me what I was doing out. I told him that my mother and father were gone, and that I had no place else to go. He took pity on me and brought me to his ship, he was a pirate of course, and he said that if I behaved, I could stay with him, so I did, and I never looked back."

Emma sat quietly for a moment, thinking about what she had just heard. Everything she had ever heard about Hook was that he was trouble, but sitting across from him right now, she didn't see it.

"Have I rendered Emma Swan speechless? This is certainly a moment I will never forget." And just like that, the walls were back up. _His past does not change the fact that he is the lying, flirty, manipulative Captain Hook. _Still, Emma couldn't help but see Hook just a little bit differently.

"I'm not speechless Hook, I'm just trying to figure out what makes you tick." She said, almost forgetting who she was talking to.

"Good to know that you are so interested love. And for the record, there are many things that make me tick, you can continue to guess if you would like." He smirked at her, and the Captain Hook that she had just seen was gone. "Well, we need to get a move on if we want to get out of here anytime soon." He reached his hand out to pull her up, and she took it, immediately regretting it, she was now nearly nose to nose with him, and he wasn't letting her go.

"Hook, we need to find the treasure." She said, but he wouldn't let her go, for someone who only had one hand, he wasn't easy to fight.

"I have a real treasure in my hands love." She scoffed at him, "Hook, I need to find my son" barely managing to get out of his grip.

"I won't give up Swan, I've bested you in every other aspect, the more you fight against it, the more enjoyable it will be when you give into my charms." He winked at her before turning towards the woods.

_Yeah, good luck pirate. _"Bested me in every aspect, I seem to recall that I have beaten you in every aspect." She knew she was challenging him, just like he wanted, but she wasn't going to just let what he said go either.

"Oh darling, if you beat me, it was because I was going easy on you." He was turned away from her, so she couldn't tell if he was lying or not. _Damn pirate._

"Really, so when I knocked you unconscious with the compass, you were going easy on me?" she countered.

"You only got to that point because I stopped the fight to get Aurora's heart. You were able to get your sword back because I let you." He turned to smile; he was enjoying this more than he should have.

"Well, my math skills tell me that you have one, and I have one. Which means we are tied, except that I also chained you up in the giant's lair." She knew that the comment would make him angry, but she wasn't going to be bested by Captain Hook.

Surprisingly, he didn't get angry, "Well, if you want to play like that, then I am the reason for you being trapped in Rumplestiltskin's cell. That's 2-2 darling, if my math is correct." He was mocking her, and she hated him for it.

"Well, here we are." He said stopping in front of the mouth of a cave, "The treasure is in there." Nodding in its direction.

"Really, a treasure in a cave, that's not cliché at all." She said sarcastically, "What do we need to do to get it?"

"Well, like I said, getting the treasure itself isn't difficult, it's getting back without being attacked that is a bit more tricky." He walked towards the cave, and Emma followed suit.

"So is this treasure buried in the ground?" Emma asked half joking. She looked around to see if she saw a treasure chest, any indication of treasure, but she didn't. The cave was small, and it's distance to the outside made seeing everything in the cave much easier, which wasn't helpful since there was nothing to see.

"No, it's not in the ground. It has an enchantment that makes it hidden from the naked eye." He looked over at her, "But it shouldn't be too hard to find, I am a pirate after all." She rolled her eyes again, "Yes, because the clothes and the rum bottle didn't make that perfectly clear." He smirked at her jab as he circled the room, clearly searching for something. She followed suit, scanning the cave more thoroughly this time, and finding a small niche in the corner.

"Here!" she said walking towards the niche, him following close behind, a little too close for her liking.

"Ah! Excellent Swan, are you sure you weren't a pirate in a past life?" he smiled at her.

She ignored the comment and reached her hand in to try and find something, but her fingers grasped at empty air. "There is nothing there."

"Ah, that's because you are using your hands" he reaches in with his hook for a moment, and then slowly, carefully puled out something that he caught with his hand. He turned around and Emma saw a small bottle in his hand.

"What?" he asks shrugging his shoulders.

"There was nothing there, and you just reach in and grab something with your hook?" Emma wasn't sure how to feel, wasn't treasure supposed to be gold, diamonds, and rubies, not some little bottle of…something, she couldn't even tell what it was.

"Well, let's just say my hook is not just a hook." He said casually.

"What do you mean it's not just a hook?" Emma wasn't going to let this go until she got some answers.

"I was in the Enchanted Forest for a bit, before the curse happened, and Regina found me, demanded that I do something for her." He said, watching her expression.

Emma froze, so Hook and Regina have worked together, and Hook and Cora have worked together, is there someone good that he has ever gone near? "What did she ask you to do?"

"She told me she wanted to have her mother killed, and she gave me this." He said indicating to his hook, "It possessed magic, so that I could take out Cora's heart. I never did kill Cora, obviously, but I kept the hook for the magic." He said everything to her, looking straight at her the entire time, she knew it was all the truth from the expression on his face, but she couldn't help but feeling betrayed.

"Why didn't you ever tell me?" she asked quietly.

"Because it never came up. Because everyone else in these damn realms have magic, I figured that it would be useful in the future, and it turns out I was right." He was getting angry at feeling the need to defend himself to her.

"Not everyone has magic Hook." She said icily before turning and stomping out of the cave.

"Swan." She felt a hand grab her shoulder, and she was forced to turn around, almost nose to nose with Hook.

"Swan, listen to me." His tone was significantly softer, his eyes betraying how upset he was: "The things in these realms, they possess magic. You know that as well as I do, the magic never left. What was I supposed to do?"

Emma sighed deeply, she shouldn't be angry, so why was she? _Because you are taking a huge risk by doing this, you're trying to convince yourself that he is bad news, that he is going to hurt you when he has had plenty of opportunity to do it and he hasn't. _Emma felt a brick fall off of the wall that she had been building for so many years and she was not sure that it was a bad thing.

"You're right, to the Enchanted Forest" she asked, she didn't want to talk about any of it, she needed to get off this island and think clearly again.

"Not just yet love." He said hesitating, "I still need a crew." He looked up at her, and she felt the anger rising again.

"What do you mean not just yet?" she said, her tone turning icy, she was getting angry way to quickly. "We have your so called treasure, what the hell is that even anyways?" she could feel the anger in her voice rising, the brick being remolded.

"This, he said bringing up the small bottle, is pixie dust." He would have continued, but Emma interrupted angrily.

"You mean to tell me, that this whole time that we have been here, these huge warnings against the stupid lost boys, all of this was done for some damn pixie dust." She was angry now, and there wasn't any stopping her now. "Where to next then, if not the Enchanted Forest, huh Hook? You want to go to Tortuga and enjoy a lot of rum first, maybe stop in Wonderland and play cricket, or maybe we should just spend the rest of our lives in Neverland playing with the lost boys. You will do anything to keep me away from Henry won't you?" All the anger that Emma had built up against Regina, Cora, Neal, her family, everyone, was coming out right now.

"SWAN" Hook shouted her name, fighting back "I almost DIED because you left me locked up with a giant, Cora nearly killed me because I TRUSTED YOU AND YOU LEFT ME UP THERE!" His face was bright red from the shouting, but he continued on, "Emma, I have done nothing but try and help you since the moment we climbed that beanstalk together. I helped you get the compass, I convinced Cora that leaving you in that cell was a fate worse than death, I told you about Cora's curse, I brought you on my ship so that you could escape the curse, I have given you every possible reason to trust me, but you can't because you're too scared that I'm going to leave you just like everyone else did. Here's a little information for you Swan, the next time somebody risks there life for you, multiple times I might add, it isn't because they want to watch you get hurt later." His look was murderous.

"Fine. You want to say that you made these huge sacrifices for me, fine, I'll just leave you alone then, so that you don't have to worry about taking care of me anymore. News flash Captain Hook, I have taken care of myself for 28 years, I think I can do it for a few more years." She turned and stomped off into the forest before he could stop her.

_Trusting Captain Hook, how could you be so stupid Emma? _ She ignored the guilt she felt for screaming, _focus Emma, you need to get off this island, you need to get to the Enchanted Forest to find your son, and you certainly don't need Captain Hook to help you with those things._ The more she marched through the forest, the guiltier she felt, _Hook wasn't lying about anything that he did, he did help her get the compass, he did tell her he would help her find Henry. _She thought back to the first time that Hook met Henry, how he had told her that he wouldn't have left her. _Stop it Swan, you need to just stop. Even if you did feel guilty, there is no way that Hook will help you now, not after that mess. _Emma had been walking for so long that she hadn't noticed where she was going, she looked up in time to see the world fall out from underneath her, or maybe she was the one falling?

"AH!" she screamed at the top of her lungs, loud enough for it to echo through the forest "What the hell is this crap?!" she looked around and realized there was no longer ground underneath her, and that she was level with trees. _What the hell happened?_ She struggled to get out of whatever it was that she was in, but to no avail. _Alright Emma think, you have certainly been in worse situations before, where are you? _She looked up again, and that's when she realized she was in…a net? At least, it seemed like a net, like in one of those old cartoons where someone stepped on a trap and were picked up by a giant net. "Alright Emma, you can do this, just, find a way to get out of here." That's when she heard it, whooping and hollering from what sounded like…kids? "Oh no…" her voice trailed off as 6 eleven year old boys appeared underneath her, surrounding the net that she was in.

"Look what we caught!" one said excitedly.

"This is the best day ever!" another shouted.

"You have got to be kidding me." Emma said aloud. Emma Swan, had been bested by the Lost Boys.


	8. Chapter 8

**So, I'm switching it up a bit this time! Woohoo! Instead of breaking this into a bunch of mini chapters, I assigned it to one big chapter that switiches back and forth between Hook and Emma, starting with Hook. I had a lot of fun, so I might start doing more of it in the next few chapters. :) Enjoy**

* * *

"Ah!" Hook jumped at the sounds of a scream, it only took him a moment to realize it was Emma's. _Damn it Swan, for a woman who claims the ability to take care of yourself, you sure as hell get in trouble a lot. _He looked down, still holding the pixie dust in his hand, Emma's words still hanging in the air. _Just leave, get the hell out of here, you have what you came for, and Emma said she can take care of herself, let her. _Hook shook his head, if he left when he knew she was in trouble, he would never forgive himself. _She told you to leave, gave you permission, just go back to your ship, go find a crew, forget all about Emma Swan. _Hook couldn't figure out why he was still having this debate, Emma still didn't trust him, why did he continue to try to earn it.

Hook got distracted by the sound of boys shouting, "Damnit Swan." He ducked into the cave just in time to watch the Lost Boys walking by, with Emma in tow. He felt his face rise up in a smile, _serves you right for not trusting me Swan; I warned you that they were trouble. _When the boys had passed by, he stepped out of the cave, and looked towards his ship, fully intending to head to the Jolly Roger, but he hesitated for a second. _Hook, stop thinking about it, go before you change your mind, _but it was too late, he had made up his mind the moment he had her her scream. He turned on his heel and followed the sound of the Lost Boys to get back his Swan.

* * *

Emma struggled with the rope that bound her hands together, but she had to give them credit, the Lost Boys knew how to capture people.

She looked up to see them marching deeper and deeper into the forest, farther away from Hook's ship. _Damn it Emma stop, instead of moping around, you need to find a way to get out of this mess_, but Emma knew that she was in trouble, the sun was slowly setting, and she could barely navigate this island during the day, there was no way she could get through it at night. Whatever plan she could come up with, she would at least have to wait until morning, if she made it that long. _Great job Emma! Not only did you manage to piss off your ride, but you managed to get caught by a bunch of young kids, who now control what happens, just fantastic. _

Emma was distracted from her train of perky thoughts with the sight of a tree, a tree that was bigger than any other one she had ever seen at least. She watched as one of the boys reached up to pull a branch, revealing a secret door that led underneath the tree. _Seriously, the Lost Boys live in a giant fake tree in the middle of Neverland, and I thought that Hook's story was cliché. _

"Follow us!" the smallest of the group shouted excitedly. "This is where we live!" said another. _Well, given their chipper moods, I kind of doubt that they want to kill me, which begs the question, why am I here exactly?_

As she walked down the incline, she saw a big open space in front of her. Animal furs were placed on the ground in various areas, there was a small place in the middle to build a fire, for eleven year olds, it was the perfect little house. As she examined the place, the leader came forward and spoke, "Welcome to our…tree!" he seemed to struggle with finding the word tree.

Emma nodded and smiled, _you have a kid Swan, you can do this. _"And this is a very nice tree that you have." _Maybe sweet talk would get them to set her free. _

"You like it!" the chubbiest one of all said proudly, "I built it all by myself." His big brown eyes lit up with pride and excitement.

"HEY! You didn't build it all by yourself, I did!" the leader tackled the chubby one to the ground and started to hit him.

"No! I built it!" as Emma watched, the six boys claimed that they all built the tree themselves and fought each other for the credit. _Great, just great, Mary Margaret was the one who knew how to deal with a bunch of kids, not me, but you have to do something Emma._

"Boys! That is enough!" Emma shouted in a commanding voice. All at once the boys stopped and looked at her intently, _great, now that I have their attention, what the hell do I do?_

"Well, can't we agree that you all worked together to build the tree? Like a team?" she didn't know if it was true or not, but she had to get them to stop fighting somehow.

"We are a team." The leader nodded in agreement, "Right boys? We listen to everything that mom says!" they all nodded in excited agreement. _Whoa whoa whoa, hold the phone, I am not your mother, I can barely handle my own kid, much less six more of them…but maybe that's why I'm here, that's why the brought me with them. _Emma thought back to what Hook had said on the beanstalk: "I spent many years in Neverland, home of the Lost Boys, and they all shared that same look." Emma understood it better than most people, but she had to get back to Henry, and no amount of sympathy for these kids was going to let her forget him.

"Well, mom says that…" her voice trailed off trying to think of something that moms do with their kids, it didn't help that she had just gotten to know Henry. What did Henry like? _The story book! _"Mom says that she is going to tell you a story." Emma said with a bit more confidence. The boys jumped around excitedly, _well; at least they seem to like that idea, way to go Swan, now what story are you going to tell them? _Emma tried to think of all the fairytales in Henry's book, but even though she lived among all the characters, she had no idea what their actual stories were. "Well...what story do you want to hear?" she asked hopefully.

"Dragons!"

"Pirates!"

"Magic!" They all shouted different things, and Emma felt lost, _the only story I know is mine, and that's…got dragons and pirates and magic…of course. _"Well, I'll tell you the best story ever, but you have to promise that you'll be quiet, alright?" They all nodded their head in agreement, "Well alright then, Once upon a time…"

* * *

_Just like Milah, _Hook thought to himself as he watched Emma tell the boys about the year that she had in Storybrooke. _Just like Milah._

Hook was brought back to the first time that he had been to Neverland, when Milah first joined his crew, they had been searching for a treasure of course, but in the midst of finding it, Milah went missing, taken by the Lost Boys. The crew had said they should go, but Hook had insisted on finding Milah, and when he did, she was telling a story to the Lost Boys, just like Emma was now. Hook realized that that was the moment he had truly fallen in love with Milah, and watching Emma smile and laugh with them, he couldn't deny that there was something there. The way that her eyes lit up every time she mentioned Henry, or how she laughed when she talked about "Operation Cobra", she was bewitching, and he couldn't help but notice.

_Alright Hook, first things first, you have to get Emma out of there, how? _He scanned the area, and noticed that all of the lost Boys had fallen asleep, and even Emma had begun to drift off._ Easy enough, let's just try to do this quietly. _

He silently crept down the entrance to the hideaway, ducking to avoid the low branches, _damn it, I am too tall to be doing this. _Trying to keep quiet and balance his way through the entanglement of hands, fingers, feet, and toes was not an easy task, especially when they were constantly moving around, but somehow he managed to make it over to Emma. _Now what? Emma was asleep now, if I nudged her awake, she would probably scream and wake up the boys, which would be a lot of unnecessary trouble._ He sat by her for a moment, and suddenly was smiling wickedly, _oh Swan love, if I make you angry now, you're about to kill me, but you'll just have to deal. _He slowly reached his good hand near her face, and covered her mouth to muffle any screaming.

As predicted, as soon as his hand had touched her, her eyes flew open in panic, and she struggled to break away from him, nearly kicking one of the boys in the jaw.

"For the love of God Swan, stop it, it's me, it's Hook." He let her go, and she turned to see his face staring back at her, noses almost touching.

"Hook! Hook what the hell are you doing here?" she hissed at him, _oh you know love, just throwing a party with the Lost Boys, what the hell do you think I'm doing?_ "Well, if that's all the gratitude I'm going to get for getting you out of here, perhaps I should just leave you." He wasn't being serious, but Emma looked a bit panicked for a moment. "I'm kidding love, no hold still for one second." He reached out with his hook and cut through the rope that was binding her hands together.

"You're right, I'm sorry. But honestly, what the hell are you doing here?" she asked him as quietly as possible, trying not to wake anyone.

"Swan, you are really not good at this are you, I'm setting you free, now would you like to stay and chat, or would you like to get the hell out of here before they realize they have a visitor who is trying to steal their mother." He stood up next to Swan, and they made their way through the flailing limbs to the ground level.

"Well, that was loads of fun, let's not do that again then, shall we?" he said turning to look at her, the shock of what just happened still apparent on her face.

"Why?" she said simply, looking at him, _why is she looking at me like that._

"Why what?" he said, puzzled.

"Why did you come back for me?" Hook had over a dozen answers for that, but he wouldn't admit them to her, not yet at least, "Really Swan, did you think that I would give up the opportunity to say I told you so?" he smiled and Emma rolled her eyes, but he knew she was grateful, even if she wouldn't say it out loud. "Right, let's go shall we?" he ducked into the trees and Emma followed suit.

* * *

_Of course, making the way through the forest of Neverland at night was not a problem if you were Captain Hook, figures. _She couldn't deny her gratitude though, after there last encounter, she thought for sure she was on her own, but he came back for her. _Why did he come back for me? _She wondered, he had the dust he needed, he had the ship, he didn't need her, why would he come back. The idea that he was genuine was fighting its way to the front of her mind, but she wasn't going to let it come forward without some hesitation, even if he did save her, he was still a pirate after all.

The journey that took them hours to make to find the pixie dust took only a half an hour at most, though it didn't hurt that they were both running at top speed. He reached the beach portion before she did, and stopped gracefully, Emma, however, was not known for her gracefulness, and slammed right into him.

"Sorry, I'm not exactly the most graceful…" she admitted.

"Oh, don't be sorry on my account love, I very much like a woman who can take control. Unfortunately, we will have to continue this back on my ship, I don't relish the thought of the lost boys catching us in a…compromising situation." Emma's eyes flew open as she realized that she laying on top of Hook, "Time to go." She said jumping up as fast as she could, _note to self, never ever lose your balance around Hook again._

"Don't fret love, we can continue our adventure soon enough." He said grinning like a mad man; Emma rolled her eyes, "Keep dreaming Captain."

"Rest assured Emma, when I'm dreaming, it will be of you." She just shook her head, _why did he insist on continuing, does becoming a pirate cause you to lose your ability to take a hint?_ "I'm flattered." She said sarcastically. "I knew you would be darling, now let's get back to my ship, shall we? I have a date that I don't want to miss." _Yes…apparently becoming a pirate does erase your hint taking faculties._

* * *

Hook smiled, there was no better feeling in the world than having his ship beneath his feet, feeling it sway underneath him, well…almost none. He glanced over at Swan who was looking out at Neverland again, "So, Emma, how does it feel to be 'bested by a bunch of 11 year olds'?" he smirked, he couldn't mock Emma as often as he would like, but when he did have the opportunity to, it was wonderful.

"Where are we going?" Swan tried to divert his attention, and he would let her get away with it, for now.

"Actually, it is a place that you already mentioned, which surprised me since you have never been there before, not to my knowledge at least." He smiled at the image of Emma Swan in a bar at Tortuga; this was going to be a fun trip.

"What do you mean it was one of the places that I had already mentioned?" she asked him, he saw the walls coming up again, her panic in trusting him coming back all at once. "Tortuga, darling, it's the only place that I can find a crew. Since the curse, most of the places that did have pirates have all but disappeared, scattered to the realms by the curse I assume, Tortuga is the best place to get a crew. Besides" showing her his bottle, "I'm almost out of rum."

"But…Tortuga is in my realm." She said confused, it's an island in the Bahamas.

"Well, it may be an island in your world, but there is an entire realm devoted to it, the name had to come from somewhere didn't it?" he asked, he had tried so hard to break her walls down, but as soon as a brick had fallen, two more came up in its place.

"Right…to Tortuga?" she said hesitatingly.

"Don't worry Swan, I'll be there to protect you." He frowned at the thought of all the pirates trying to get a hold of his Swan.

"I don't NEED protection Hook, I've faced plenty of liars and cheaters, I can take care of myself." She said. Hook tried to choke back a fit of laughter, "Indeed darling, you showed real fighting instincts against the Lost Boys."

"They're kids, Hook, I wasn't going to hurt a bunch of kids if I could help it, grown, lying, cheating men, those are my area of expertise, trust me. Besides, I beat the GREAT Captain Hook in a sword fight, like I said, I can handle it." She emphasized the great in a sarcastic manner, and he glared at her. "As I said before, I was going easy on you, I'll make sure to not make the same mistake again." She rolled her eyes again, "Of course you were Hook. Now can we get out of here…" her sentence was broken by the sounds of shouting coming from the island, the Lost Boys were awake, "Time to go." He agreed.

She ran off to the opposite side of the boat and hoisted the sails, _she had to be a pirate in another life, _the more he saw her, the more convinced that he was.

"So tell me darling, what exactly was your plan with the Lost Boys, since you had the advantage with them and all." He knew the answer, but he wanted her to admit that he had saved her; it mattered to him more than it should have.

"Well, I was going to…" she hesitated, she had no real plan to escape them, and even if she did, they could catch her just as easily as they did the first time. "I was going to win them over until they untied me, then run like hell." He smiled, she hadn't realized it, but she had said the exact words that he had said atop the beanstalk, it may have been unconsciously done, but she remembered them, whether she would admit it or not.

"Of course, and did you have a master plan after that?" he was still waiting for her to admit he had saved her, but she wasn't budging. "I would have thought of one." She said it with determination, a determination that he had grown to admire in the short time that he knew her.

"Well, I'm sure you would have thought of one, here" he said handing her a cup of rum, she glanced at him suspiciously, "It's rum darling, you're a pirate in every other aspect, I only assumed." He smiled, he was getting to her, and he knew it, and she knew that he knew it.

"I'm not a pirate Hook, never have been, never plan to be." She said with finality, he merely shook his head, "Not in this lifetime, but I'm convinced that you were in another lifetime." She shrugged her shoulders "I can assure you that I was never I a pirate, not even close." She smirked at him and he glanced at her in confusion, _what's the opposite of a pirate, a…princess? No, she was the daughter of Snow White and…_he looked up at her, not able to hide his smirk, "My apologies, your majesty." He bowed mockingly, "Does the princess have any requests?"

"Don't call me princess." She stated, glaring at him, but it was too late, calling her darling and love had frustrated her, but they were his pet names for everyone, this was a name he could reserve just for her.

"Oh Emma, princess, don't tell me not to do something, I'll be sure to do just that." He smiled and she glared at him. "I will ignore you if you call me princess." She began again, realizing only after that he had called her princess and that she responded. _Emma, you are making this far too easy for me, I don't even have to try. _"Fine, would a princess do this?" she looked down at the cup he had given her, and drank it all, he couldn't hide his surprise, pirate rum wasn't an easy drink to hold down, but Emma just stared at him, anger in her eyes.

"A pirate princess would." He smiled as he walked towards the wheel, as much fun as he was having with this, and would continue to have with this, the Lost Boys were approaching, and they had to get out of there.

"I'm not a pirate OR a princess Hook." She was still glaring at him, and he just ignored her. She pressed on, "I'm not." And she turned to leave, but he caught her belt loop with his hook and pulled her back to him, she was so close to him now, he could smell the rum on her breath, saw the anger flash through her eyes, and she fought to get away with him, "You are princess love, and I am here to make sure that you never forget it." He let her go, but not before he kissed her hand.

"I need more rum…" she said marching away from him, it was then he noticed that she had taken his canteen of rum with her. "Damn it Swan!" he chased after her, but she ducked below the decks, out of his sight, _this is my ship love, don't think that you can escape from me on my ship. _

"Hook, if you want it back, you'll just have to find me." Even though he couldn't see her, he knew her enough to know that she was smirking.

"Rest assured darling," he crept below deck in search of her, opening her bedroom with a flourish, only to find her not there. He tried his cabin next, but she wasn't there either, he stalked back up to the deck to find her standing on the bow, looking at Neverland off in the distance, _damn woman is going to be the death of me. _Marching over to her, he grabbed the canteen out of her hands and took a swig from it, glaring at her.

"What was that you had said below decks Hook, I couldn't quite hear you, it's awfully loud up here with the wind and all." She was smiling, she had won this round of their banter, and she was quite pleased with herself.

"I said, if you had been paying attention, that if you run, you can never escape me." He returned her smile as he took another swig of rum.

"And why is that Hook?" she was still smiling, and he couldn't ignore the brightness of her eyes in that moment.

"Because darling, no matter where you are, no matter what you're doing, or who you with, I will always find you." He saw something flash in her eyes for a moment, but then it was gone. He had no idea how the words could have affected her the way that they did, but he knew that he had struck something when he said them, something that he had not expected, but was glad for.

"Well then," her voice was a little shakier than before, like what he had said scared her, and he wanted to take it back, but it was too late. "Are we going to Tortuga anytime soon, or are we just going to stand around on deck all day?" she turned away from him, but not before he watched one of the rows of bricks fall at her feet. What he said had a power that he didn't understand, but if it meant getting closer to Emma, he didn't care. "Aye, let's go before the Lost Boys catch up." He reached deep in his pockets to find another one of the magic beans, and threw it into the ocean. The swirling vortex opened up, and he sailed straight into it, leaving Neverland in his wake.

**Sorry if the ending is a little...idk, I really liked the idea of Hook giving Emma a special pet name that Emma hated, and princess seemed to work. I also liked the idea of him saying he could find her, because Emma is feeling torn about how he came back for her, and I think that this kind of reassures her that he isn't going anywhere anytime soon. Thoughts, critiques and all that other awesome stuff.**


	9. Chapter 9

**Sorry for the delay, I had homework and tests and all that other boring responsibility stuff, but nonetheless, I present Chapter 9. Enjoy :)**

"Hook you cannot be serious." Emma stomped over to him, Hook smiled at her anger.

"Trust me princess, I am being completely serious with you." He smiled again, calling Emma princess only made her angrier.

"For the love of…rum…for the love of your damn rum, stop calling me princess." At this point, Hook couldn't hide his laughter anymore. "And what is so damn funny? How about this, if you don't stop laughing, I will be the reason that you lose your other hand." He smirked at her, _Emma darling, you are making this far too easy. _"Emma, that would require you to have FAR superior sword skills, and let's face it, my sword skills are better." He winked at her.

"Prove it!" she said, taking another step towards him, her defiance infuriated him; "Prove what…**princess**?"

"Prove that you aren't all talk, if you can beat me in a sword fight, I will stay, but if I can beat you, then I get to come with." She leveled her gaze, and he once again got lost in her bright eyes. "I wouldn't be a gentlemen if I attacked a princess." He smiled, and she smiled back, taking a step towards him. He suddenly became aware of how close they were, noses nearly touching, her lips barely parted in a whisper, "And you are always a gentlemen." She leaned in and he couldn't help but smile at his success, he had finally won over Emma Swan, he leaned in, and heard the familiar sound of a sword being pulled from a sheath, his sword. He arched his brow in confusion, _this is not what is supposed to happen, I should be tasting her lips, not tasting metal. _He looked up, and his sword was pointed at him, with a triumphant Emma on the other end, "What was that about you having superior sword skills Hook?" she smiled devilishly. Hook sighed, he could beat her, quite easily, but the idea of her in Tortuga with him wasn't one that he hated, "Very well, on one condition, you cannot wear that."

* * *

Emma stood with her arms crossed glaring at him, "You expect me to wear that, you're kidding right?" she stared at him, but he was showing no signs of joking.

"I insist." He replied holding out the ridiculous looking pirate garb, "The idea is to blend in darling." He said when she still wouldn't take the clothes he was offering her.

"I don't care about blending in, especially if it means looking like that." This time she was pointing to his skin tight leather pants, "Besides, they probably won't even fit me." She was pushing it, but she didn't relish the thought of being scantily clad in leather, especially in front of Hook.

"How can you know that, unless you put them on, trust me, you'll be more covered than the other women there." He tossed the clothes to her and she caught them unwillingly.

"Somehow, that's not comforting." But she reluctantly walked to her quarters to put on the outfit. Surprisingly, they fit, and even more surprising, was that she didn't hate it. The leather pants were not significantly tighter than her jeans, the corset was a bit over the top, but the shirt underneath made it bearable, still, she wouldn't admit that to Hook.

"This is absolutely ridiculous." She walked back into the Captain's quarters, and stared at Hook, who hadn't been paying attention.

"I'm sorry, what is so ridiculous…" his voice faltered when he looked up to see her, and a smile spread across his face. "Oh no, I was totally wrong."

"Wrong about what?" she replied defiantly, she hadn't thought she looked that bad.

He sauntered towards her, trying to hide the amusement in his voice, "I do believe that you will stick out even more now, if you think that I'm not a gentlemen, you just wait."

He was testing her, and she wasn't going to back down at this point in the game, "Well, believe me when I say that I'm not attempting to woo any pirates while I'm here." When she was a bounty hunter, she had dealt with many…forward men, and she didn't fall so quickly.

"I believe that you have already failed, because I have certainly been wooed." He winked and walked past her, "Come along princess, I have people to find and deals to make." Emma frowned at him calling her princess, but followed him regardless; _maybe if I act like it doesn't bother me, he will stop calling me princess._

The correct answer to that question was no, the entire time they walked to the bar…tavern, whatever it was, he made his snide remarks: "Is the princess getting too tired, can I buy the princess a drink, what to do with a princess on my ship?" Emma promptly responded with a back-handed remark, and their banter seemed endless, _at least we will be there soon_ Emma thought hopefully. As if on cue, Hook gestured a door on the right, "There, that's the bar I need" he held the door open for Emma, "Always the gentlemen" Emma said rolling her eyes, "Only for a princess." He winked and followed her inside. Emma was overwhelmed by the smell of rum and body odor, ignoring the looks that she was receiving as she made her way over to two empty bar stools.

"Scared yet love?" Hook whispered into her ear, she shuddered uncontrollably, "Not even in the slightest." She was lying though, sitting in a bar full of obnoxious, flirty pirates should have scared her, but it didn't. What did scare her was not that she was with the infamous Captain Hook, but that she didn't mind that she was with him. _Damn it Emma, you are in an unfamiliar place with a man that is known for conning everyone, and you are letting your guard down, what the hell is wrong with you? _"Good, I would be disappointed if you were." He whispered back to her before taking his seat. "Two rums" he said gesturing towards the busty barmaid before turning to face Emma, "So here's the deal, I need to find someone, and I need you to stay here and behave, do you think you can do that for me Swan?" She placed her hand over her chest in mock offense, "I'll have you know, I always behave." Hook smiled at her, "Oh, I know that's a lie, being a princess does not mean you behave." He winked at her, and Emma was grateful that the bar maid brought drinks, a welcome distraction to Hook's innuendo. She downed the rum in silence, watching with amusement as the bar maid flirted with Hook, not surprised when he flirted back.

"Don't be jealous love." He said when the woman had walked away, "Charm has a way of getting you things that you need. At this point, the bar maid returned and whispered something in his ear, he smiled, thanked her, and turned to his companion, much to the disappointment of the bar maid. "I'm off darling, but I shan't be long, promise me you won't cause trouble?" he was partially kidding, and she nodded, "I will do my best" he smiled with satisfaction and left the bar quickly. Emma watched him walk out the door, and wondered for a moment why she wasn't worried that he would leave her.

"Well aren't you a sight for sore eyes." The voice came from behind her, and she turned to find herself facing a pirate that had quickly taken Hook's place to her left.

"I get by." She shrugged her shoulders casually, turning away to end the conversation. The pirate didn't take the hint, however, and continued, "I imagine so, tell me love, what is a beautiful damsel like you doing in a wretched place like this?"

"I'm not a damsel." She replied coolly.

"My apologies Ms…"

"Swan, Emma Swan." She turned; clearly she could not avoid this conversation.

"it is a pleasure to meet you Ms. Swan." He bowed his head in acknowledgement, and she studied his facial features for a moment. He wasn't nearly as good-looking as Hook, long black dreadlocks, dark brown eyes, and a gold tooth that gleamed when he smiled, he seemed almost familiar to her, but she couldn't fathom why.

"Am I to assume that you have no name?" Emma asked watching him carefully.

"Aye, I do have a name love." He replied with a smile, "Whether or not you get to know that name is entirely up to you." Emma caught the hint, and chose to ignore it, Captain Hook's innuendos were bad enough, she didn't need someone else's.

"Not going to ask what it is?" he said suggestively. Emma turned to face him, "That would imply I have an interest." She would have turned away, but he caught her leg this time, forcing her to face him. "Is that so? What a pity, I find you very interesting." Emma rolled her eyes, Hook hadn't been kidding when he said that he was a gentlemen. "Well, I promise that I'm not very interesting." She had tried to move away from him, but he held her leg just a bit tighter. "I doubt that, you are a beautiful woman alone in a bar, doesn't get more interesting than that." He smirked at her.

"Unfortunately for you, she isn't alone." Emma turned towards the voice and met Hook's lips.

* * *

Hook had walked outside of the bar, hoping to find the pirate that would get him what he needed, unfortunately, the damn bar maid was clueless, and had pointed him in the wrong direction. Several minutes of searching confirmed that the pirate he sought out was in the bar he had just left Emma in. _That's what you get for listening to a bar maid Hook, bloody disappointment. _As if that wasn't enough, he walked back into the bar to find the very man he was looking for touching his Swan. He caught the looks of several men in the bar as he marched over to where the pirate was, saying something about her being beautiful and all alone, "Unfortunately for you, she isn't alone."

In his defense, he was aiming for her neck, it wasn't his fault that she turned at the last moment, but he wasn't going to complain. His lips met hers, and it took him a moment to realize it, but once he did, there was no going back. He leaned into her, tongue grazing her lips, and she opened her mouth, allowing him to deepen the kiss, which he certainly wasn't going to complain about. Kissing Emma had been an item on his agenda since the day they met, but he had never expected it to be like this, perfect. Well, it was perfect until realization dawned on her, and she went to pull away from him. He leaned to the side grazing her ear, "If you want everyone to back off of you, just go with it love." He whispered, noticing the goose bumps appearing on her neck.

"Hook, it's been too long." Hook turned to face the pirate that had been all over Emma just a moment ago, "Sparrow, always a pleasure." His tone implied that there was no pleasure in this circumstance.

"Sparrow?" Emma glanced at Hook in confusion, "As in Captain Jack Sparrow?" Sparrow smiled at the realization, "So you have heard of me, how interesting." If looks could kill, Jack would be on the ground with hundreds of daggers in him, and not because of Emma.

"Sparrow, I'm here on business, as usual. I need a crew, and I have something that you want." he waited for Sparrow to answer, watching him carefully.

Captain Jack Sparrow stared at the blonde sitting on the bar stool next to Hook, "Indeed, you do have something that I want." He spoke, his eyes never leaving Emma.

"Yes." Hook was getting angry, Sparrow was not getting any piece of his Swan, no matter what he tried, "Well, I have the dust here." He pulled the small vial of pixie dust out of one of his many coat pockets, "And I assume you have a crew for me." His eyes flashed with anger as Jack finally turned his attention back to him, "I do, but the crew is quite valuable, I'm not sure that the pixie dust is enough." Sparrow glanced at Emma for a moment, and Hook nearly lost it.

"It's the payment that was agreed upon." His tone was icy, he knew exactly what Sparrow was up to, and he wasn't going to give in.

"But that is a small amount of pixie dust, is it not, seems like far less than we bargained for." Sparrow was ignoring the anger in Hook, and he was about to regret it.

"Take the deal, or I'll find someone else." Hook thrust his moniker into the face of the pirate, and glared at him.

"Aye, but I'm the only deal maker in town Hook, and besides, you're outnumbered." Hook was suddenly made aware that the heated exchange was the focus of everyone at the bar, and that no one seemed to be on his side.

"Emma, I think it would be best for you to go back to the ship." He glanced at Emma, praying for once that she would listen, unfortunately for him, she enjoyed fighting too much to leave now.

"What fun would that be? Besides, your outnumbered, and we work so well as a team." She smiled mischievously at him, and he smiled back, "Aye, that we do." As if their minds were in perfect sync, they pulled their weapons out at the same time, Hook's pointed at Sparrow, and Emma's pointed at the man that had been inching his way towards her.

"Shall we?" she asked stealing a glance at him.

"After you princess." And with that, the swords collided with their foes. Hook hadn't been willing to admit it before, but standing back to back with Emma at a bar surrounded by pirates, he felt something that he hadn't felt in over three hundred years, he felt whole.

**So? Thanks for reading, commenting, favoriting, and all of the other delightful things that you do that inspire me to write. Just a warning, I have a super important exam coming up, so the next chapter won't even be started until Wednesday, but hopefully I will have it posted by Wednesday night, I make no promises though. Anyways, thanks for everything :)**


	10. Chapter 10

**_So...sorry this chapter took forever to upload, but it was...really hard to write. I hope I made up for it by having a long chapter, enjoy!_**

* * *

_How the hell did this happen? _It was the only thought that came to mind when Emma looked at Hook, an unspoken moment passed between them before Emma reached for her sword, aiming it at the nearest threat. _I'm at a bar, in Tortuga, with Captain Hook, fighting Jack Sparrow, because having Snow White and Prince Charming as your parents was not crazy enough. _They swung their swords at the same time, and it seemed that all hell broke loose in the bar.

"Ever been in a bar fight before love?" Hook was back to back with her, his voice barely heard above the screams and shouts of the patrons.

"Well, I've been in a few before, but never one where my weapon of choice was a sword." She admitted, still, she felt that she was holding her own rather well considering she had very little experience wielding said weapon.

"Really? You've been in a bar fight, seems very unprincessy if you ask me." She couldn't see it, but she knew that he was smirking, _he is so infuriating. _

"I think we established a long time ago that the princess scene really doesn't suit me." She let the anger from his comment fuel her as she swung the weapon at a few surprised drunks.

"That is true love, much more pirate than princess." This time he actually turned to smile at her, stabbing a man in the chest without even looking.

"Show-off" she rolled her eyes and he smiled again, "When we get back to the ship, remind me, and I'll show you how to do it."

"You're assuming that we will make it back to the ship in the first place." She couldn't help but admire his confidence, even if it was irritating at times.

"I've been in far worse circumstances, and this time I actually have a decent partner." He turned back around and took on one man with his hook and the other with his sword; it was easy to see why everyone considered him to be the most feared pirate in the realms, taking on multiple men at once was child's play to him.

"I dare say, has Captain Hook given me a compliment?" Emma mocked him, hiding the satisfaction in her voice at being good enough to hold her own.

Emma caught herself spinning for a moment, and was suddenly facing him, her body pressed up against him, looking straight into his ocean blue eyes, "Sure, **now** you want to notice my compliments." He stabbed the man that was directly behind her, and she followed suit, the man behind Hook falling at his feet. In a moment she was facing away again, "It's like I'm on the damn teacups!" Emma shouted at him remembering the first time she went to Disney and nearly throwing up on the teacups.

"What do teacups have to do with bar fights?" the confusion in his voice made Emma laugh, why would Captain Hook know about the tea cups. "Nevermind!" she jabbed her sword into the man in front of her, and he fell to his feet.

The adrenaline was pumping through her now, but the bar patrons were coming at her in full force, surrounding her, and as competent as she was with the sword, deflecting every attack was impossible. Hook was having better luck behind her, but he had at least 300 years of experience more than she did, damn show off. Emma lost track of what Hook was doing by a pain in her side, and jabbed the causer in the shoulder, causing him to scream in return. She suppressed a shout as she battled through the pain that was increasing with every flick of her sword.

"Give me the dust Hook" Sparrow's voice came from behind her, and she saw out of the corner of her eye Captain Jack and Hook battling it out. It was amazing to watch the two men fight it out, swords colliding, Emma was transfixed for a moment, in all her years she never expected to watch a sword fight between Captain Hook and Captain Jack Sparrow, yet there she was.

"I need a crew Sparrow." He retorted, fire burning in his eyes.

"Indeed, and a great crew you could have." Sparrow looked over at Emma again, and the fire in Hook's eyes increased, he was seething.

"Well, I've always preferred negotiating threw force rather than words, pirate and all." His attacks became much faster, with much more force behind them, startling the famous captain.

"I know" He smiled, and Emma noticed the calculating eyes, he was planning something, she didn't know what it was, but he was definitely up to something.

"Hook…" she said with a weary voice, giving Hook a look that she hoped he would understand.

"I know love, you're not the only person that is a book." Emma smiled at the reference, but Sparrow just furrowed his brow in confusion. Ignoring the pain in her side, she gradually moved away from Hook, following Hook's gaze, an understanding passing between them. In a moment, she was behind Sparrow, and she silently pulled her knife out, watching as Hook inched him towards Emma. She wasn't sure how it had happened, but one minute, it looked like Sparrow was about to take the advantage, and in the next moment, Emma's knife was at the pirate's throat.

"Bloody hell." The surprise of the sneak attack caused Sparrow to drop his sword, if he hadn't been hopeless before, he certainly was now, "She's a keeper mate."

"I've found that she makes a better pirate than a princess myself." He smiled at Emma, a genuine smile, and Emma found herself smiling back at him, she wouldn't admit it to him, but they made a hell of a team.

"Princess, interesting. Well, it seems you have won this round Hook." He lifted his hand and waved for all the men in the bar to come forward, "Lads, meet your new Captain." He said gesturing to Hook.

"Captain?" one stepped forward, looking expectantly at Hook, clearly missing the hook that replaced his left hand.

"Hook." He said lifting up the moniker, "And you would be?"

"Samuel, Samuel Teach." The man smiled, Emma shoved Sparrow forward, he had been leaning against her side, and the pain was nearly blinding.

"Well Mr. Teach, I look forward to seeing you on my ship." Hook turned to Sparrow and threw the dust in his direction, "Next time, be prepared." His threat hung in the air as he turned and marched out the door followed by a large group of men, Emma following at the rear.

The next few minutes were agonizing for her, the pain in her side growing with every step, she felt like she would collapse at any second, but she pushed forward, if she could just make it back to the ship, she could wrap whatever the hell was causing her pain. She was grateful that the black leather vest made it impossible to see the blood stain, she didn't want any of the men to see her weak, especially not Hook. When she thought she would pass out, she saw the outlines of the Jolly Roger come into view, _great, just get to your room and you'll be alright Emma, just get to your room. _Climbing the gangplank was hard, and she saw spots in her vision for a moment, and heard a voice that sounded far away, even though it was coming from the man standing right next to her.

"Well, I know you will probably hate me for saying this love, but we really do make one hell of a…" his voice trailed off when he saw her grab the rail for support.

"Emma" a hand reached out to steady her, grabbing her injured side unknowingly, Emma let out a cry of pain.

"Emma, what's wrong? Emma, say something." The last thing she saw was a furrowed brow and ocean blue eyes filled with concern, then she blacked out.

* * *

"Emma, son of a bitch, EMMA!" Hook was shouting at her but getting no response. He picked her up effortlessly and carried her towards the lower decks, towards his quarters.

"Teach! Where the bloody hell is that man, TEACH!" Hook couldn't control his anger anymore; he was going to be responsible for another woman's death, another woman that he cared about, perhaps even loved.

"Captain?" a bewildered Teach ran over to him, "Teach, I certainly hope that you have dealt with injured crew members, because this is going to be much more difficult if you don't."

"I have sir, was a medic aboard Blackbeard's ship sir." Hook nodded and marched towards his cabin where he knew he had some bandages and other supplies.

"Fantastic, then you shall have no issue problem patching up Emma." He glanced at her face, the color nearly drained from it, how could he have not noticed how much pain she was in before.

Hook kicked the door open to his private cabin, "The bandages are in there." He said nodding his head towards a large cabinet in the far corner of the room while he made his way to the large bed on the opposite side. "Alright Swan, let's see what mess you've gotten yourself into this time." His tone seemed joking, but concern had been building up since she collapsed on the deck.

The cut was bad, not a long cut, but it was deep. Fortunately, it had been done with a sword erasing any worries of broken glass in her side. "Damn Swan, you really know how to take a hit don't you." He caught Teach look at him with a questioning look before turning back towards the woman on his bed.

"Something to share Mr. Teach?" Hook's tone was threatening, he didn't need his most likely first mate questioning his authority before they had even set sail.

"No Captain, I'm just trying to help this woman, how exactly do you know her?" Teach looked over at the captain with genuine curiosity.

"She was in the bar." Hook replied nonchalantly, asking too much on the first day was a sure sign of betrayal.

"You walked into the bar with her sir." He replied, damn this man for paying attention and pointing out his lies, only Swan was allowed to do that.

"Well aren't you the observant one Mr. Teach, if you would like, I can just deal with the girl myself." Hook went to push Teach out of the way, but he remained at Emma's side, carefully weaving the needle and thread to close the gap.

"No Captain, I was just making an observation is all." Teach was quiet for the remaining time, and Hook watched anxiously as he sewed up Emma's wound with ease, he had clearly done this many times before. "She'll make a full recovery Captain, not that it was a major concern in the first place." Teach stood up and left the cabin without another word, leaving Hook to his thoughts.

"Well Swan, gave me a hell of a scare there, thought for a moment that I had lost my unbreakable swan. _My, she isn't mine Hook, she is just a woman who needed help to get to the Enchanted Forest, that was all, _but he knew that was a lie. Emma had come to mean so much more to him than that, and though he hadn't realized the intensity of his feelings, he couldn't deny that they surprised him.

"You're just an infuriating woman, you know that. You found me in that damn camp and immediately knew that I was deceiving you. Everyone else I could have convinced, could have won over, but you, you just had to one up me didn't you love? Never thought I would see the day when Killian Jones was bested by a princess, but you're not exactly a role model princess now are you?" he looked at her face, she really was beautiful, he couldn't deny that.

"I think it was then that I realized that you were going to be an interesting woman, more interesting than most of the women I've met at least. And then you were the one who climbed the beanstalk, I thought to myself, wonderful, I can get to know the woman who bested me so it won't happen again, we see how well that worked out." He glanced over at her quiet figure again, wondering why he was saying everything, _because she would run if you said this while she was awake. _

"Damn it Emma," his tone was soft as he looked at her, the way her hair was curled underneath her, "Why did you have to make everything difficult? I spent 300 years, perfecting my revenge against Rumplestiltskin, factoring in every possible outcome, and then you bloody show up and blow all my plans to hell. For the first time in 300 years, I thought about something other than my revenge…" his voice trailed off as he heard a knock on the door.

"Captain?" it was Teach again.

"Yes Mr. Teach." Hook turned towards the man standing in the doorway to his cabin.

"One of the crew members has asked if we plan on setting sail tonight. I took the liberty of saying there were unforeseen circumstances that made it more likely that we would spend the night." Teach stole a glance over to Emma before facing his captain again.

"That will do Mr. Teach." Hook didn't want his new first mate to recognize how concerned he was for Emma, but it seemed that he wasn't going to get his way on the matter.

"May I ask what the plans are once we set sail?" Teach wasn't a fool, he knew exactly why they were staying, but he knew Captain Hook had a temper, and challenging him too much could be serious trouble.

"We're going to the Enchanted Forest as soon as…" he stopped himself from saying as soon as Emma was awake, "As soon as I deem it necessary." His tone wasn't harsh, Teach didn't seem like a bad man, but that didn't mean that he would let his true intentions show through.

"Aye Captain, I heard it's dangerous there, that the Evil Queen is back with a vengeance." He would have continued, but Hook cut him off, "By all means Mr. Teach, if you like to back down now, be my guest, but that is the port of destination."

"You mistake me Captain, I said it was dangerous, I have no issues with going there, I just thought that pirates tend to run away from danger, not run towards it." Teach pointed out matter-of-factly, Hook was tempted to stab him with his hook at the implication, but resisted the urge.

"Well, I have unfinished business there." Hook stole a glance at Emma, something that didn't go unnoticed by his first mate.

"Very well sir, I have full confidence that we will set sail soon." He didn't say anything at all, but the implication was there, Teach knew that Emma was something to Hook, and that could turn into a problem in the future.

"Do you, eager to go to the Enchanted Forest quickly?" Hook stared the man down, searching for some form of manipulation, but there was none there, _what is this man doing?_

"No sir, I was assuming that we would set sail as soon as the lady is better, I would hate to leave and have some complication happen while we are at sea." Hook watched as Teach spoke, seeing that the man was being honest, and nodded without realizing it, _damn man was perceptive, boy would Emma hate that. _"Good, I'm glad that we are on the same page then." Teach nodded, "Indeed sir." He turned to leave and stopped for a moment, "For the record Captain, I think the feelings are mutual." And he walked out the door before Hook had a chance to process what his first mate had said.

_Feelings are mutual, what the hell does this man mean the feelings are mutual, he doesn't even know her, or anything and yet he assumes the feelings are mutual. _He stopped his train of thought before it went somewhere that it shouldn't go and looked at Emma again, who was still sleeping, _Teach says that the feelings are mutual, I would love to see your reaction to that love. _Still, the words that he said hung in the air, he had to have seen something that implied that her feelings were mutual, what could have possibly convinced him that there was something between them. _Enough Hook, Swan will get better, we will sail to the Enchanted Forest, stop Cora and Regina, and then you can be on your way. _He stood up, getting ready to leave the room, but he heard a voice behind him that stopped him.

"Neal" it was soft, but there was no mistaking what she said, and Hook's anger took over for a moment. _Neal! I brought you here, I'm the reason why you can save your son, I went back for you in Neverland, I saved your life today when we were in the bar, I gave up my 300 year vengeance because of you and all you can say is bloody Neal. _Hook's thoughts were a jumble of anger and betrayal, after everything that he had done for her, she was still hung up on Henry's father.

"Please don't." he turned to see her, still in the same position, but face contorted in pain, like she was reliving a painful memory. He let out a breath he didn't realize he was holding in, she wasn't in love with Neal, she was having a nightmare. The realization made him walk back towards her, and place his hand on her shoulder, "Emma?" when she didn't respond he nudged her again, this time with a bit more force, "Emma. Emma love, wake up."

"No." she shot straight up and immediately fell back down, "What the hell?" she grabbed her side, and slowly, she began to get her bearings, her eyes circling the room till they met his.

"You know, for someone who says they can handle themselves, you get into trouble a lot." He gave her a sarcastic smirk, not wanting to reveal the relief he felt that she was awake.

"You assume that I couldn't get out of trouble." She replied evenly.

"You collapsed on the deck, tell me exactly how were you planning to get out of that one?" She was fighting back, that was definitely a good sign.

"I would have found a way." She replied stubbornly, "I always have before." The tone in her voice hinted at a deeper meaning, and Hook knew that she wasn't going to give in so easily.

"Whatever you say lass, but next time, let's try to admit when your hurt, rather than nearly bleed to death." He turned serious for a moment, as much as he enjoyed the challenge, he couldn't think how he would feel if something had happened to her.

"I'm sorry, the next time I get in a bar fight in Tortuga, and proceed to get stabbed by a sword, I'll make sure to stop everything to tell you I'm hurt." She challenged.

"Not necessary darling, the next time you come to Tortuga, I'm chaining you to the bloody ship like I had planned to do." He leveled a gaze at her, she was still pale, but her eyes were bright and challenging.

"You wouldn't lock me up. As much as you hate to admit it, I did pretty well today, minus the whole being stabbed thing." She knew she was right to, compared to most, she had held her own rather well, but he wasn't about to admit that to her.

"I would lock you up darling, it would be payback after all the times you have tied me up." He leaned in close before continuing, "Besides, I rather like the idea of you chained up on my ship." He winked at her, and she replied with an eye roll.

"You assume that I would let you in the first place." She replied, ignoring the innuendo hanging in the air. That was fine by him, after 300 years, he had plenty to use, "Who said anything about letting me, I'm a pirate love, I don't mind getting a little rough." He leaned in just a little closer, remembering the spark he felt when he kissed her in the bar, something he hadn't felt in over 300 years, and even then, how that spark was so much more intense than it ever was with Milah.

Emma held his gaze, "Well, I'm sure that there are plenty of women in Tortuga who wouldn't mind you getting rough with them." It wasn't an accusatory voice, but the words hurt him nonetheless.

"That may be, but I already have a beautiful woman in my bed, doesn't seem right to just leave her." He smiled wickedly.

Emma, who had been sitting up, moved away from him for the first time, "Well, if you won't leave, then I guess I'll have to." She went to stand up, but he pushed her back onto the bed, "Love, your still injured, and like it or not, you need your rest." He knew that sitting around doing nothing wasn't her style, but she had to give her wound a chance to heal.

"What do you suggest that I do then?" she glared at him, clearly missing the opening that she had given him.

"I could give you a few suggestions." He winked at her, and she replied with a sigh, "I'm hungry Hook, so unless you want me to starve, I suggest you let me go get food." She went to stand up again, but he pushed her shoulder back down, "And what kind of gentlemen would I be if I let an injured princess get her own food." Before she could argue, he had left his cabin to get a meal to share.

* * *

He was back in a few minutes with fish and some side dish that she didn't recognize, and of course a large jug of rum. How he managed to carry it all with just one hand she could only guess, but he walked through the door expertly.

"Hungry I take it?" he said as she stared hungrily at the food on the plates. He gently set them down in front of her, and she dove in without a second thought, ignoring the amused looks she was getting from her companion.

They talked easily, when she didn't have huge amounts of food in her mouth, he flirted, she countered, she couldn't believe it herself, but she was enjoying the company of Captain Hook.

"If I didn't know any better, I would say that you were enjoying yourself love. Dare I say that the princess is enjoying the company of a pirate, what would her people say?" he mocked, and she rolled her eyes, but the comment brought her back to reality, she had to save her son, and possibly her parents, and yet here she was, letting her walls down, talking with someone the way she used to talk to Neal. She felt the walls coming back up, and even though they weren't as high as before, they were still up.

"Emma, what did he do to you?" Emma frowned, this was not the direction that she wanted this conversation to go in, not at all.

"I don't know what you mean." She replied nonchalantly, hoping he wouldn't press the manner, no such luck.

"I mean, what did Neal do to you?" he pushed, she winced at the mention of the man's name, even after all he had done, she still hated hearing his name.

"Nothing, he left me and that was it. End of story." She was lying, but this was something that she hadn't even told her mother or father, she couldn't imagine telling it to Hook.

"Emma, you should know by now that you are the most dreadful liar." He wasn't going to give in as easily as she had hoped; she would have to change tactics.

"What happened with Milah?" she asked, knowing full well that he would close up just like she did.

"Rumplestiltskin killed her, end of story." He mocked her words, but she saw the anger behind his eyes, there was more to it than that, and her curiosity got the better of her. "If I tell you about Neal, will you tell me about Milah?" part of her figured that he wouldn't be willing to talk about it, but he was full of surprises.

"Deal." He said the words almost too quickly, like he had been waiting for this opportunity for so long and now he was finally getting a chance to hear it.

"Fine…" she was a little off put at first, but she didn't go back on deals, and she wasn't going to back down from this one either.

"I was in the foster system when I was a kid, jumped from family to family, and I did a lot of bad stuff to get by, stuff I'm not proud of, but what I felt was necessary to live at the time. Anyways, I was in Oregon, and saw this car just lying around, so I stole it, felt pretty proud of myself until this guy popped up in the back seat." She frowned at the memory, how could she have trusted him so easily, let her walls down like that, to a guy who she stole a car from.

"So, I stole his car, and it turns out that the car was stolen from someone else by him, so I stole a stolen car, we almost got caught to, but he talked his way out of it. Well, we became thieves together, we made a pretty good team to, and it worked for a while, we were going to settle down in Tallahassee, but Neal was wanted by the cops for stealing some expensive watches." She looked up and saw Hook was entranced by her story, why was her life so interesting to him.

"He wanted to leave the country, but I convinced him to stay, that I would get the watches and he would cash them in, then we could go to Tallahassee together, and stop the whole thing, get real jobs, settle down, have a family." She fought the anger in her voice, the betrayal and sadness she felt so long after the fact had ruined a lot of things for her, she couldn't trust her own son because of him, an innocent 10 year old. "But I guess he had other plans. He cashed in the watches and then called the cops on me. I went to prison for 11 months, I found out about Henry while I was there, gave birth to him in prison, then I had to let him go." She couldn't fight the sadness anymore, the one thing that she hadn't wanted to do was give up her son, but Neal had made that impossible.

"He let you take the fall for something that he did." She was startled by Hook's voice, more startled by the anger that came from it. She looked up to see his ocean blue eyes seething, why was he getting so angry over this?

"Yeah, he did. I didn't think I would ever see him again, and then he ended up being Rumple's kid, the night that I was arguing with that guy outside Granny's, that was him." She took a swig of rum and offered it to him, hoping that it would ease her pain and his anger.

"Well, he doesn't deserve you." He said before taking a large gulp out of the bottle, "Any man that could abandon someone he claims to love doesn't deserve love at all."

"Thanks." She let the words hang in the air, no one had ever talked her up like that, and it was a good feeling, though she wasn't willing to admit it.

"I met Milah at a tavern in the Enchanted Forest, before Regina had unleashed her curse, before Rumplestiltskin became the Dark One. She was captivating. I remember she was in the bar, so lively and happy, saying how she longed to see other worlds, but was stuck in that small town because of her husband and son. She told me about how her husband was a coward, he didn't fight in the Ogre Wars, and she was deemed the wife's coward, how she had grown to loathe him because of his cowardice. He came into the bar, and that was the first time I met Rumplestiltskin, except he was just a coward at the time, he used his son to bring Milah back with him, but the next morning, she was on my ship begging me to take her away, she intrigued me, so I agreed. Right before we set sail, Rumplestiltskin came on my ship, asking for her back, and I told him that if he fought me and won, I would give her back, he didn't even pick up the sword he was such a coward." Emma heard a bitterness in his voice that she had never heard before, understanding his reaction to Neal abandoning her a little better now.

"Milah joined my crew, and we set sail, she was captivating, and a bloody good pirate too. We made a good team" His eyes softened at the memory of her before darkening at the predictably sad end. "Many years later, he found me again, but this time, he was the Dark One. Couldn't fight for Milah as a man, but now that he had magic he would fight me. We fought, he almost ripped my heart out, but Milah stopped him, made a deal with him. He wanted to get to another world, we had the means, so she traded our lives for the last magic bean. That wasn't enough for him though, when he asked how could Milah leave her only son, she told Rumplestiltskin that she never loved him, and he ripped her heart out, crushed it right in front of me, when I was helpless to stop it, but that wasn't enough, he cut my hand off." He gestured towards his hook, "I swore my vengeance on him for killing her, I would do anything it took to seek my revenge for Milah." His voice grew quiet, and Emma felt speechless, he wasn't much different from her.

"I'm sorry." As soon as she said it, she regretted the words, how could two words justify 300 years of mourning, but she knew how he felt, how much pain he was in, and how no words could truly describe the remorse that you feel when you lose the one person that kept you grounded.

"It's alright love." He looked up at her, and she knew something had changed in that moment, he wasn't vengeful or flirty or cocky, he was simply broken, just like her.

"Well…I have to go." She said quickly, the walls were up, but they weren't as strong or as tall as they once were. "Thanks for dinner though."

"Of course, good night Emma." He said following her to the door of his cabin, "Good night Hook." She walked out, but was stopped abruptly by his arm grabbing her shoulder, "Killian." He said so soft she could barely hear him. She turned, confusion written all over her face, "What?" he smiled at her, a genuine smile that she saw so rarely, but one that made her heart skip a beat, "I think we're on a first name basis now" she nodded and smiled in agreement, "Good night Killian." She turned and walked to her cabin contemplating the strange feelings she had in the pit of her stomach.

* * *

**So...what'd you think? I feel like a lot of feelings developed in this chapter, especially for Hook. Anyways, I hope you liked it, be sure to leave a comment to let me know what you think, and I should upload relatively soon! :)**


	11. Chapter 11

**Sorry this took so long to write...this was a tough chapter to write, a lot of...really intense moments. Anyways, I really hope you enjoy it! **

It had been a long night, Killian stood on the deck of his beloved ship, the smell of the ocean always cleared his head.

It had been several days since the incident in Tortuga, and Emma was healing quickly, not that he was surprised, fast recovery seemed to fit her profile.

"Couldn't sleep?" the voice from behind startled him; it was a rare occurrence for anyone to sneak up on him, especially on his ship.

"Aye, you either?" he turned to face the speaker, noting the pirate attire that she kept, despite them leaving Tortuga days ago.

"Too many thoughts to sleep." She walked towards the edge of the ship, their arms just barely touching.

"Thinking about your boy." he said, it wasn't a question, but a statement.

"I've been away from him for so long, I just hope that he's okay." He saw the pain in her eyes and hated it with everything in him.

"Rest assured lass, as dangerous as Regina is, she will do everything in her power to protect Henry." He knew the statement was true, as twisted as Regina was, she would do anything to help the boy, even if it meant killing her own mother.

"I know that, I just don't know how I'm going to get him back once I'm there. I've spent all this time determined to get back there, but I don't have a clue on how I'm going to save him."

"You'll find a way darling, you made it past a giant, you beat Cora at the lake, you'll think of something I'm sure." He wasn't lying either, if anyone could figure out a way to save Henry, it would be Emma.

"I beat you at the lake too, if I recall correctly." She nudged him lightly, a smile spread across her face.

"Yes, indeed you did." He avoided her gaze this time, hoping that she wouldn't notice his dismissive attitude towards her remark, but she was too damn perceptive for her own good.

"I did, didn't I?" she leaned over the railing to get a better look at his face, and he knew that he was caught.

"You bested me darling, I'm not sure what more you want me to say." He wasn't technically lying, she had knocked him out, but he hadn't exactly fought his hardest.

"You son of a…" her voice trailed off as she stared at him, realization hitting her like a ton of bricks. "You let me win, didn't you?"

"Well honestly love, did you think that 300 years in Neverland taught me nothing?" he wanted to change the subject, but he knew Emma too well, and she wouldn't have any of that.

"Why?" she had that look on her face, brow furrowed, eyes wide, mouth not quite forming a smile or frown.

"You're reasons were far more noble than mine." There wasn't the slightest hint of a lie, he hated to admit it, but he knew the moment he saw her at the lake, he couldn't allow her to not get home.

"So you're saying I can't fight." Her tone was challenging, her face determined. She was going to ignore him sacrificing a 300 year old revenge for her, at least for now.

"You're assuming love. You knocked me out fair and square." He winced at the memory of her fist meeting his jaw.

"But you went easy on me." He smiled, she had a tendency to get defensive over her capabilities, and him admitting that she won because he let her was infuriating to her.

"I may have, but the men in the bar most certainly didn't." he gestured to her still injured side to prove his point; this seemed to make her feel a little better.

"So…I do fight well…" her voice was still skeptical, but he heard a hint of pride in there.

"Well, you may be able to take on a few sleazy bar men, not sure how far you could get with a real pirate." His challenge hung in the air, and he saw the corners of Emma's mouth turn up slightly.

"Is that a challenge, Killian." He smiled at the use of his real name; it had been too long since he had heard it.

"It's whatever you'd like it to be, Emma." He enjoyed seeing her eyes flash, knowing full well that she would rise to the challenge he left before her.

"I think it's a challenge." She brushed past him, reaching for one of the swords lying on the deck, she turned and pointed it at him, ready to attack at the drop of a hat.

"Really love, you're just going to pick up a random sword on the deck and start fighting?" he was amused by the disgruntled expression on her face.

"What's wrong with that?" she glared at him in defiance, aiming her sword a little higher.

"How does it feel?" he asked seriously.

"What do you mean how does it feel, it's a sword, it's…I don't know. How is a sword supposed to feel?" she was staring at him intently, green eyes bright.

He took a step towards her, casually moving the blade away from him with his hook. "A man, or woman." He corrected when he caught her look, "Needs a good weapon, something that isn't just a sword, but more of an extension of themselves." He saw her questioning gaze and sighed, "Does it feel, right? Do you feel comfortable holding it?"

"Well, it's kind of heavy. Not that I'm weak, it's just not…balanced? But why does that matter, shouldn't you be good no matter what sword you hold?" there was the fire again.

"Aye, but if you want to be at your best, you have to feel comfortable. Here." He handed his sword to her and took hers, "Better?" The sword she had was not good, but he had so much experience he could manage a poorly made sword much better than she could.

"I guess. The one I used at the bar, I liked that one." She was still hesitant, but he saw her look of recognition, that was the blade she wanted.

"Right, well, go get it." He said stepping aside to allow her to pass.

"Aye aye Captain!" she mock saluted before she walked past him down to her quarters to retrieve the blade. He smiled in spite of himself, here was this woman mocking him on his ship, and all he could do was smile.

When she returned, he sauntered towards her, sword in hand, "Now, take your stance love." She obeyed, standing with one foot slightly in front, sword angled towards him.

"That's your stance?" he held back a laugh, to which she frowned, "What's wrong with my stance?" her tone was defensive, which only broadened his smile. "Nothing, your just leaving yourself rather wide open darling." "Well, I can't exactly defend all of me all at once now can I?" her tone was challenging. Without another word, he swung at an open point, she went to block, and he moved at the last second, placing his sword at her throat.

"How did I do that?" he asked her, suppressing a smirk.

"I don't know, how did you do that?" slowly inching away from the sword that was maybe a centimeter from her neck.

"By having a half decent stance." He replied in a mocking tone.

"Well, what is a half decent stance then?" she countered, trying to hide the annoyance in her voice.

"This" he took a step back from her, put his legs shoulder length apart, crossing his sword in front of him in such a way that would prevent any upper body attack.

"That's the way I was standing!" she protested.

"This, was the way you were standing love." He mocked her stance, showing how wide open she had left herself.

"I don't see a difference." She furrowed her brow, she was too stubborn.

"Liar." He pointed out; smiling at the way her brow furrowed even more when he called her out on it.

"Fine" she changed her stance, but it was still wrong, her feet were too far apart, her left arm was still open for attack.

"Emma, you have to guard your entire upper body." He walked towards her, hoping that she wouldn't hate him for what he was about to do, "Or else you'll be killed within 30 seconds" he stepped behind her, ignoring how his body pressed up against hers as he reached over and placed her hand in the correct position. He was startled by the jolt he felt when he touched her, and noticed how Emma tensed up; she must have felt it as well.

"See, you're blocking all of this now, this can buy you at least 30 seconds." He pushed past the intimacy of the moment by stepping away, Emma visibly relaxed and Killian couldn't help but feel a bit disappointed.

"Now, attack." He stated standing in front of her again. She smiled, as if she had been looking forward to this, and swung with all her might at him, he easily countered her, and the fighting commenced. Her movements were fluid, she was a natural sword fighter, it wasn't surprising given her family history, but she had an unexpected power behind every attack she made.

They continued on, ignoring the rising sun, attacking and dodging, all while verbally bantering back and forth, neither of them noticing when Mr. Teach came from below decks to speak to the captain. Seeing the sight in front of him, he smiled with appreciation and returned below, whatever he had to say could wait, the captain was busy.

* * *

Since that day, Emma joined Killian every morning before the sun rose and fought, she was getting better day by day, even though it had only been a week, she was probably more skilled then most of the men who were on the ship now.

"When are we going to the Enchanted Forest?" Emma asked on the second morning, she was getting too distracted by the pirate; she needed to find her son.

"Today, actually." He replied, Emma noted the disappointment in his face and briefly wondered why it was there.

"Really? So we'll find Henry soon then." She paused for a moment, _we'll, no Emma, you will find Henry, not you and Killian, you alone; he has no part of this._

"It's a bit more complicated than that love, the Enchanted Forest is a huge realm, I cannot control where exactly the bean will take us, but we will get to the Enchanted Forest, and we will find your son." He said it with confidence, and Emma felt comforted by the emphasis he placed on the we.

"You think so?" Emma asked, not sure why she was letting the pirate in, allowing him to see her weaknesses.

"Emma love, I have not known you for very long, but if there is one thing that I know about you, it is this: you fight for the people that you love, no matter what the costs." Emma was stunned by the words, from anyone else, she would have shrugged it off, but coming from a man who lived for 300 years to avenge his love, it meant a lot.

"Careful, first rule of sword fighting, never get caught off guard." She swung her sword at him and he just barely deflected it. Emma ignored the tightening in her stomach when he caught her with his gaze, she tried to ignore the piercing blue eyes, or the way that her heart beat increased when he smiled, but she couldn't help it. Though Emma wouldn't admit it to herself just yet, she was falling for Killian Jones.

Now it was day five in the quest to find a passable place to land the Jolly Roger, and Emma was getting worried, a huge amount of the Enchanted Forest had been destroyed by the curse, and the more days that passed, the more Emma lost the confidence in finding Henry. The only thing that made her feel better was the stolen moments in the morning with Killian.

She had been walking towards the upper deck when she heard footsteps behind her, assuming that it was Killian, she smiled "You're up late Capt…" her voice trailed off as she turned to face the man behind her, he was most certainly not Killian.

"Expecting the Captain are we pretty?" the man sneered at her. Before Emma had time to react, one hand grabbed at her waist while the other grabbed her mouth to stifle the scream. "See, the Captain thinks he can bring this woman on board, tempt the men on his ship and get away with it, but things aren't that simple out at sea, and I get awfully lonely in my cabin." Emma struggled against him, biting, kicking, flinging her arms, but it was no use, the man was much stronger than she was, and she was fading fast from the lack of air.

* * *

He couldn't explain it, but Killian had the feeling that something was wrong, it had only been, five minutes or so since he arrived on deck, but something in his gut told him she was in trouble. _On my ship, she is on my ship, what kind of trouble could she possibly get into? _Nonetheless, he marched down the stairs towards the cabin that he had set aside specifically for her, the only cabin, other than his own, that had a lock. He rapped his knuckles against the enchanted wood and frowned when he didn't hear a snarky comment in return. He reached over to the door handle and twisted, it was unlocked.

"Emma" he called softly entering the cabin slowly, eyes scanning the room for her.

"Come now love, I told you, you can't hide from me on my own ship." But all the nudges wouldn't get rid of the distinct edge in his voice; Emma wasn't anywhere to be seen. _Where is that woman? _He made his way back to the upper deck, just to be sure that she wasn't there, but of course, she wasn't. Concern etched the normally handsome features, if she wasn't with him, and she wasn't in her cabin, then where was she?

"Captain, is there a problem?" Teach's voice echoed behind him, Killian turned to face him, anger flashing in his eyes, "Do you think that I would be calling out for someone if there wasn't a problem?"

"Who's missing?" Teach asked, not even flinching at the captain's behavior.

"Emma, have you seen her?"

"I assumed that she was with you, I saw her heading up to the deck not more than five minutes ago." the concern evident on his face.

"She isn't with me, that's why I went looking for her." The captain tried to control his anger, throwing his first mate off the ship would certainly not help the circumstances.

"Indeed sir, I'll start checking…" he would have continued the statement, but a loud crash came from below decks, not far from where they were standing.

_Emma, _without thinking, Killian rushed towards the sound he had heard, concern and anger overpowering his thoughts. He heard a loud thud coming from the inside of the cabin he was in front of, he kicked the door open, and there, lying on the floor, was his Swan.

"You." He said marching to the only person in the cabin, the bewildered man searched for a weapon to defend himself with, but Killian's hook was at his throat in no time.

"What exactly do you think that you are doing?" Killian hissed at the man, anger taking over completely.

"I…she…I…" the man stammered, _did he truly think that he could get away with hurting her. _

"Mark my words, if the next words out of your mouth don't make a complete sentence, I will gut you in this very room." Killian pressed his moniker deeper into his throat, making it nearly impossible for him to breathe.

"Killian?" the voice behind him was weak, just loud enough for him to hear, he immediately turned to see Emma standing up, looking at him with concern. _She is concerned for me, she was just attacked on my ship, and she is concerned for me? _He released the man he had up against the wall and turned to her, "Are you alright love?" he asked.

"I'm fine." She said, though she was still shaking.

"Did he hurt you?" he asked darkly, taking a step forward and assessing her for cuts or bruises.

"No, I'm fine." She said brushing a stray hair behind her ear. He looked at her skeptically for a moment, and then turned to face the man in the cabin, but he was gone, _bloody coward._

"Teach!" he shouted, startling Emma.

"Captain." Teach returned promptly, sighing with relief at the sight of Emma.

"I need you to take Emma to my cabin, make sure she is alright." Emma opened her mouth to protest, but he cut her off, "You are a terrible liar darling." When Emma opened her mouth again he shook his head, "Please." Emma frowned but followed Teach towards the captain's cabin.

"Now, back to business." The anger returning as he marched out of the cabin and back to the upper deck in search of the man who hurt Emma.

"Where is he?" The noise from the encounter had woken half of the men, who were crowded around the deck with bewildered expressions. When there was no response, the captain frowned, anger flashing in his eyes, "I will ask again, but this time, if I don't hear a response, I will personally see to it that every one of you is fed to the sharks." He may have been lying about the sharks, but the fear of dying would be enough leverage, "Where is he?

"Here" One man piped up, directing his attention towards the center of the ship where, sure enough, the man that was in the cabin with Emma was standing.

"Thank you." He said moving towards the man, everyone else scrambling out of his way. Hook pulled his sword out and held it at the man's throat, "Now tell me, what exactly were you planning to do to Emma." His tone was dark, the vengeful side of him taking over.

"She's a woman; there are only so many things a woman can do." He said with anger in his eyes. Without thinking, Killian smacked the man across the face with his hook, leaving a nasty cut that ran from the edge of his chin to the edge of his eye.

"There are many things that any woman can do, but her in particular, she is more capable than any man on this ship." He raised his sword and cut the other side of the man's face. "I expect everyone on my crew to be treated with equal respect, do I make myself clear." Everyone on the crew nodded and he looked at the man that was on his knees in front of him, "Get off my ship." He said darkly.

"What?" the man looked bewildered, _he assumed that I would allow him to disgrace the Jolly Roger with his presence._

"I said, get off my ship." The captain repeated, hoisting the man to his feet and throwing him towards the edge of the ship.

"Captain Hook going soft over a pretty face." The man said smugly. Before he could contain control, Killian's sword was through the man's gut, the man let out a gasp of pain, "I hope you feel this as you sink to the bottom of the ocean, and if you somehow managed to survive this, I hope that I find you again, so that I myself can watch you die." The captain pushed the man over the edge without another word, fighting the thoughts of vengeance and anger by imagining the woman he was falling in love with in the cabin below.

"Now gentlemen, let me make one thing perfectly clear. This woman, her name is Emma, she is a member of my crew, and she is to be treated with respect, and as an equal, and if I should find out that _anyone else_ tries to hurt her, I will personally see to it that you die in the most painful way possible." Without another word, he went below decks to find Emma, the only person that kept him from killing that man.

* * *

"Gave the Captain quite a scare there." The first mate said smiling at Emma.

"Really? I'm just grateful that he was in the right place at the right time." She said quietly, she probably could have escaped, but the fact that he had found her and defended her made her feel safe.

"Oh he wasn't in the right place, he was looking for you." Teach said with a confused expression on his face. Emma looked at the man rubbing something on her bruised shoulder, her face matching his. "What do you mean he was looking for me?"

"When you weren't on the deck, he went searching for you to make sure you were okay, when he didn't find you he panicked, like he knew something was wrong." Teach shrugged simply. Emma tensed up, he was looking for her, he panicked when he thought she wasn't okay, he knew something was wrong, her mind wandered for a moment, thinking about something David, _her father_, had said. _It was the worst feeling in the world, I just felt this tightening in my chest out of nowhere, and I just knew that Snow was in trouble. _Emma couldn't think like that, Mary Margaret and David were in love, and Killian certainly didn't love her, he loved Milah, he is going after Rumplestiltskin for Milah, he couldn't love someone else.

"Emma?" Teach's voice brought her back to reality, "What?" she asked looking at the man.

"Was that the only bruise you had?" he repeated the question.

"No, I mean, yes, that was the only place." She lifted the arm of her shirt to cover her shoulder, "It's feeling better already, thank you." She said smiling.

"Of course, just glad that you're alright, can't imagine what the captain would do without you." He said, and Emma noted the small smile creep onto his face.

"What are you talking about?" Emma asked suspiciously, sure she and the captain enjoyed each other's company, but that was it, they were…_what are we exactly, _she couldn't consider him a friend, their relationship was more intimate than that, she had told him things that she hadn't even told her parents, but that just meant they were close, spending time on a ship for a while brought people closer together, that was it, the same situation would have happened with anyone else.

"I just think that the captain, well, I haven't known him long, but he seems to enjoy your company is all." Emma saw through the lie, but something prevented her from pushing for the truth.

The door opened with a flourish, and the man they were discussing walked into the cabin, concern etched on his handsome features, _concern, handsome, Emma, you need to get off this damn ship soon._

"Are you alright?" he said, ignoring his first mate, who he didn't seem to mind.

"I told you, I'm fine." She said as Teach closed the door behind him, leaving her alone with him.

"Yes, but you were lying." He said, walking towards her and sitting down on the bed, Emma realized how close they were and had to fight to keep her breathing steady.

"I'm fine." When she met his skeptical look she smiled, "I've been in worse situations, I'm fine, really."

"Good, I would hate to have to search for a doctor here, not quite as easy as it is in your realm, less things poking through your skin though." He wrinkled his nose and Emma laughed, remembering how much the captain seemed to hate all the IV's in him when he was at the hospital.

"What? I don't see the bloody point of attempting to blind me with that…whatever that nurse shone in my eye, when my ribs are hurt." Again Emma laughed despite the circumstances that she had just gotten away from, somehow he made her forget the worry that she felt for her son, her parents, and even for herself.

"You should do that more often princess." She didn't even wince when he said the nickname; she had grown accustomed to it.

"Do what?" she asked curiously.

"Smile like that, it's quite lovely." His look was serious and Emma found herself staring at his eyes, so much like the ocean.

"Yeah, well, it's not every day I get to hear Captain Hook complain about hospital machines." She looked away quickly; she was getting too close to him, letting her walls fall down too easily in front of him.

"Is he locked in the hold or something?" Emma asked, desperate to change the subject, even if it meant bringing back moments that could have ended very badly.

"He's not on the ship anymore love." It was his turn to look away from him, _was that shame she saw?_

"So you killed him." It was more of a statement than a question, he was a feared pirate after all, why wouldn't he kill someone like that.

"No." she looked up at him again, not bothering to hide the confusion.

"Well, he probably will be dead anyways, he didn't exactly leave my ship in the best of conditions." She noted the anger in his eyes and the tone of his voice.

"But you didn't kill him?" she couldn't imagine why he would have a problem killing a man.

"Oh believe me, I wanted to, and if anything worse had happened, I have no doubt in my mind that I would have, but I didn't." he was staring at her, with those eyes that read her so well.

"Why?" she let the question slip out.

"Because, that would make me no better than he is." He said, Emma felt lost, Killian had shown he was a better man than him, killing him wouldn't have made him worse.

"You spared his life because you thought you were worse than him?" she couldn't fathom why he hated himself so much.

"Trust me darling, I'm as bad as they come." He was deadly serious, Emma shook her head, "Trust me when I say that I have met far worse people than you." She leveled her gaze with him, ignoring the voice in her head saying that she wasn't going to go down this road again, that she wasn't going to open herself up to someone again, because they only hurt you in the end.

"You don't know half the things that I've done Emma, 300 years of trying to kill Rumplestiltskin leads you to do a lot of bad things." She frowned; he didn't understand that 300 years fighting for the woman that he loved was a much more noble cause than running from your magical father.

"Look, everyone has done bad things in the name of a good cause, you're no more bad than I am, and you are certainly better than a lot of people I know." She thought about all the things that Regina and Cora alone had done, they were the reason she was here right now, why she never had a family, why she had always felt alone.

"Right, well, they are certainly no hospital machines, but I suppose they aren't the best people around." He smiled at her, another genuine smile, and Emma felt herself smiling back, he didn't smile nearly as much as he should.

"Yeah, those hospital machines will really get you." She became aware of how close they were, how their faces were only a few inches apart, and how Emma felt drawn towards him, wanting to close the gap, she backed away, cursing herself for letting her walls down for him.

"Emma." He whispered her name, it was so quiet that she could barely hear it, despite the proximity. _No, this is wrong Emma, you need to find Henry, Henry, your son, the son that is with Regina right now, you can't let your guard down now, not after just finding Neal again after 11 years, happy and moved on, engaged to be married _emotions running rampant in her mind.

"Emma." The voice was a little louder this time, and she turned to see that he had closed the gap, every fiber of her body wanted to lean in that small bit more, wanted to believe how genuine he was, but not wanting to expose herself to hurt again.

"I can't…" he cut her off mid-sentence, "I'm not him Emma." Though she had never said anything about it, he seemed to still know exactly what was on her mind, what was stopping her from taking a leap.

"Please." Though as she said it, all her resolve had disappeared, she leaned in the short distance, and her lips brushed against his. It was so different than their last kiss, while the first one was intense and passionate, this was almost sweet, completely opposite of both of them, but so perfect at the same time. Emma leaned into him a bit more, reaching out to grab his face, letting her tongue just barely brush his lips, wanting nothing more than to deepen the kiss. She felt his hand on the back of her neck, a jolt of electricity running through her as he deepened the kiss, his hook moving down to her hip as he leaned in.

A knock at the door brought both of them back to reality, Emma cursed herself for giving in to temptation, for letting him win the game, but one look at him made her realize that he had stopped playing the game a long time ago, that this had become more than just a game for him.

"Captain, I just wanted to…" his first mate walked in and immediately noticed Emma moving as far away from the captain as possible, her cheeks a deep red.

"Wanted to?" Killian replied eyeing his first mate impatiently, Teach seemed to realize that he had intruded on a moment, and quickly finished his statement, "Wanted to tell you that we found an area that appears to be safe to set the ship."

"So, we can get off, look for Regina and Cora?" Emma's heart beat increased, she could find her son and get him home, get away from this pirate that made her want to trust again.

"Yes ma'am, just thought that you would want to know, figured the captain would want to make sure everything was safe first." He said.

"Right," he turned towards Emma, a smile on his face, "Let's go find your boy, shall we?"

* * *

**So? Hope it was worth the wait, and for those who are wondering *spoiler alert* that creepy guy will get what's coming to him (Not from Emma though). **

**Anyways, I felt bad that our biggest shipper on the show is gone, so I figured I had to make up for it a bit with having Teach ship them too :D **

**So, hope you guys liked it, leave a comment and let me know, and I promise I will try not to delay the next chapter too much.**


	12. Chapter 12

**Oh my goodness, what a crazy few weeks it's been. I think that school and work and inspiration have been fighting against each other lately, but nonetheless, here is a very belated Chapter 12...I really hope it was worth the wait.**

* * *

Regina paced the room impatiently, her guards had not given her much information on the man they had discovered, but the fact that they didn't recognize him was worrisome enough.

"Regina, what's wrong dear?" She heard her mother ask from behind.

"Nothing." She shot back.

"Sweetheart, whatever it is that is worrying you, you can tell me." Regina turned to face her mother and sighed, Cora always knew when something was bothering her.

"I'm concerned that this stranger might be someone that can help the Charming's. I have to make sure that he doesn't do that." Regina's tough exterior faltered, she had worked too hard to get where she was to fail now.

"Regina, if this man is a threat, which he won't be, then he can be disposed of."

Regina would have replied, but she was interrupted by her guard bringing in the man in question. He was covered in blood, but beyond that, the very sight of him made Regina's skin crawl.

"What is this?" Cora said glaring at the man on the floor.

"This is the man we found near the water." The guard bowed to her, "He is severely injured and…"

"Well it's obvious that he is injured isn't it." With a wave of her hand the blood was gone and the wound was closed. "Who are you?" She demanded.

"You healed me." The man looked from Regina to Cora clearly surprised.

"And she can make you feel that pain all over again, now who are you?" Regina spoke before her mother could open her mouth, she wasn't going to let her control everything.

"My name is Hawkins, James Hawkins, where am I?" He stood up and was moving his gaze from Regina to Cora, then back to Regina.

"How did you get here? Who were you in Storybrooke?" Regina mentally reminded herself of everyone in Storybrooke to match his face with, but no one came to mind.

"I don't know what this Storybrooke is, and I don't know anyone from there."

"Then how did you get here, how did you end up in the forest?" It was Cora who spoke this time, tone threatening.

"I was on Hook's ship, or I was before he threw me off." Hook, what was Hook doing in the Enchanted Forest when Rumplestiltskin was in Storybrooke. A wave of panic hit Regina at the thought of Rumplestiltskin and all his power lurking through the woods.

"Hook is not in this realm, he is too busy killing Rumplestiltskin to be here." Cora replied indifferently, she clearly saw no threat in Hook or Rumplestiltskin.

"Oh no, he is here." The man said darkly, "Probably convinced to come here by that wench." Regina's ears perked up at the word wench, what woman could have a hold over Hook, and more importantly, could she use it to her advantage.

"What woman?" Regina said, taking a step closer to the man.

"I don't know, some woman that he was with." The man said impatiently.

"Need I remind you that we saved your life, and we can end it just as easily." Regina stepped forward, her hand placed threateningly over the man's chest to emphasize her point, "Now tell me, who was the woman."

"I don't know who she was, I had never seen her." His normally cool composure broken at the thought of losing his life.

"What did she look like? What did he call her?" Regina's patience was running thin.

"She was good-looking, blonde hair, skinny, I didn't pay attention, she was a woman on a pirate ship." Regina hadn't heard the rest of his sentence, because there were only a few blonde women that she knew, and only one that Hook would have on his ship.

"What was her name?" Regina plunged her hand in to the man's chest in a fit of rage, causing the man to gasp in pain.

"I don't know, he never called her by her name, he always called her princess, sometimes he would call her another nickname, something to do with a bird." Regina ripped the man's heart from his chest, her worst fears coming true, the one person that she had been determined to leave behind in Storybrooke had managed to find her way back to the Enchanted Forest.

"This nickname, was it swan." Regina didn't bother to hide the anger and hatred burning through her.

"Yes, Swan, that was what he called her, Swan." Regina lost it, her hand squeezing the heart in her hand as she watched the man crumple to the floor. Of course Emma Swan had found her way to the Enchanted Forest, she didn't know how, but somehow, the woman had come through with the curse.

"Regina, sweetheart, you need to wait until you have extracted all the useful information before you kill him." Cora scolded her daughter like a child who had just been caught stealing a cookie, not killing a man.

"I'll make sure to do that next time mother." Regina snapped back, she didn't have time to deal with her mother; she needed to find a way to get Emma out of the Enchanted Forest before she found Henry.

"You don't have to worry, he gave us enough information to go on for now, it may take some time, but we'll find Emma and she won't take Henry from you."

"How can you be so sure? She's done it before, what's to stop her from doing it again. And on the other issue, the man only told us Emma is here, we have no idea where she is or how she managed to get here in the first place." Regina was growing more impatient by the minute.

"On the contrary, he told us everything that we needed to know. Emma may have magic, but it's not enough to bring her here without some kind of help. The only way she could have gotten here was the same way that I got to your realm, using Hook's ship." Cora replied.

"Why would Hook bring Emma here?" Regina demanded, as far as she knew, they had met in the Enchanted Forest when Emma fell through the portal, from what she had heard from her mother, they weren't exactly close in the Enchanted Forest, so why would he help her, especially if it was sending him away from Rumplestiltskin.

"I forget that you never saw them outside Storybrooke, Hook is falling for her." Cora said it as if everyone knew it, but Regina remained unconvinced.

"Hook was going after Rumplestiltskin because he killed his true love, how is it possible that he fell in love with Emma?"

"I'm not sure about the details, but I'm sure that we can ask the captain himself." Cora was smiling, an evil glint in her eye.

Regina's smile matched her mothers, "Guards! Find Captain Hook and bring him to me, it seems he has been busy lately." She marched through the double doors to her room, confidence fully restored. _I would love to see the prince's face when he finds out that Captain Hook is in love with his daughter, poor Prince Charming and Snow White lose their daughter because of Captain Hook, how tragic. _Regina smiled, she may not be able to directly hurt the Charming's in this land, but she could exact revenge worse than that on them, after all, there was no greater pain than losing a child.

* * *

"This is ridiculous Killian, I need to find Henry and my parents." Emma looked at the pirate who was leading them even deeper into the forest.

"Alright then love, you lead." He stopped in his tracks and turned to face her. When Emma didn't move he continued, "Go ahead darling, I know how you like to be in control of everything, by all means, go." It was a challenge and she knew it, so she marched past him in the direction that he was headed.

"Great choice darling, couldn't have picked a path better myself." He said sarcastically, following close behind her.

"Well, considering that we have been walking for at least two hours with no sign of anyone I figured that I should lead for…" Her voice was cut off when Hook placed his hand over her mouth. At first she fought back, trying to break free from his tight grip, but she stopped when she felt his hot breath on her ear.

"Emma, someone, or something is following us, so please, stop fighting me and hush." Only then did he let her go and she scrambled away, giving him a death glare in the process. She was about to open her mouth to give him hell, but she stopped when she heard a sound coming from behind her, a twig snapping underneath someone's foot. Emma spun around, sword drawn ready to fight whoever her attacker was, only to be faced with a very confused and familiar face.

"Aurora?" Emma said, lowering her sword in the process.

"Emma, Hook, what are you doing here?" the princess responded, appearing just as confused as the pair.

"Aurora, didn't I tell you to stay close…" Another familiar voice could be heard behind Aurora, and shortly, the female warrior appeared from the trees.

"Emma?" Mulan looked at the savior, equally perplexed, "How did you get here?" Then her guard was back up again, "How do I know you're Emma?"

"I…um…We got out of Rumplestiltskin's cell using the squid ink that was on the parchment." Emma said, hoping that Mulan would believe her.

"So that's how you managed to get out, I had been wondering that for some time now." Hook's voice interrupted.

"Emma, how did you get here? Snow told me that you weren't meant to be brought back with the curse cast." Mulan was still suspicious, but significantly less than before.

"Killian took me on the Jolly Roger, we escaped to Neverland, and then came here." Emma said looking at the man himself.

"Killian?" Aurora asked, shifting her eyes between the pirate and the princess.

"Right, well, what matters is that you are back. Snow will be pleased, as will Charming." Mulan said.

"You know where they are?" Emma said hopefully, "Is Henry with them too?" Mulan shook her head, and Emma felt her hope diminish, "Snow and Charming have been trying to find ways to get to Regina's castle and get him back, all attempts have been unsuccessful so far."

"It's alright love, we'll get him back, I promise." Killian's voice was warm and comforting, but Emma was too distracted to notice, she had to find her family more than anything else, she couldn't be distracted by him now, not when she was so close to getting Henry back.

"Well, it's getting late, we should head back to camp before the ogres start coming, this way." Mulan took the lead, headed in the direction that Killian had taken them, Aurora following close behind and Emma and Killian walking side by side.

"Are we going to talk about what happened on my ship darling, or are going to try and ignore it?" Killian leaned in, whispering in her ear so that the other two didn't hear them.

"There's nothing to talk about Killian, I was caught up in the moment and it was a mistake." Emma lied, avoiding his gaze.

"We've been through this before love, you're an open book, I can tell when you're lying." He continued to stare at her with his ice blue eyes and she briefly wondered why it had to be him that read her so well.

"If I'm such an open book, then why are you asking me what I'm thinking about in the first place, hm?" Emma retorted, matching his gaze this time.

"Because I want you to admit that this has become so much more than that, that that kiss was more than just getting caught up in a moment. You're scared Swan, but you're too bloody stubborn to admit it." Emma searched his face for the lies and deception, but there was nothing there, he was being completely truthful, and it scared the hell out of her.

"We're here." Mulan said, turning to the two, catching them glaring at each other, "I'll go find Snow and Charming."

"I'll come with you." Emma said, trying to distance herself from the man she was having a heated conversation with, but the feel of metal on her wrist drew her back, "This conversation is not over Swan, you can't run away forever." He hissed in her ear before releasing her, ignoring the confused stare he was getting from the princess.

Emma stalked away, following Mulan to a group of tents that had made a make shift camp for the people who had been brought back over by the curse.

* * *

"Snow, Charming." Mulan walked into the tent, interrupting the couple.

"Mulan, that was fast, did you find something?" Snow asked hopefully, looking at the warrior who had sacrificed so much to help the pair, she really was a hero.

"Not exactly what you were looking for, but…" the warrior's voice trailed off. Snow stood next to her husband, confusion and worry spreading quickly, but nothing Mulan said could prepare her for the sight she was about to see. Mulan had reached behind her and opened the tent door to reveal the blonde woman that Snow had thought she would never see again.

"Emma?" She didn't bother to hide the tears that were forming from seeing her daughter again, relief flooding through her as she took a step towards her.

"Yeah, sorry if I'm a little late to the party." Her daughter replied awkwardly, causing Snow to choke back a laugh as the tears fell down her face.

"I can't believe it, I thought you were left behind, that's what Regina's guards said." She embraced her daughter, never wanting to let her go. Soon she felt the strong arms of Charming wrap around the pair, the family, or at least most of it, was united again.

"I was, sort of, it's a really long story to be honest." Emma said lamely.

"It doesn't matter now, because you are here, and we are together again." Snow held her daughters face in her hands, unable to show the gratitude she felt at being able to see her again.

"Come on, let's go get you some food, I'm sure that you are starving." Charming reached out and opened the makeshift door to the tent, leaving it open to allow his daughter and wife to exit, following close behind. Snow held her daughters hand, guiding her towards one of the tents, "Are you actually hungry Emma?" She asked.

"What the hell is he doing here?" Charming's angry voice interrupted.

"What are you talking about?" Snow said, turning to see the source of her husband's anger and seeing it in the tall, leather clad pirate casually leaning against the tree.

"Didn't want to disturb your little family reunion, so I found a tree to lean against, didn't realize that was a crime your majesty." Captain Hook's voice replied back menacingly, his eyes glaring at Charming.

"David…" Snow warned, taking a step towards her infuriated husband, briefly wondering how the pirate had managed to get to this realm, much less find their camp.

"Killian…" Emma's voice matched that of her mother's, but Snow wasn't paying attention to the tone of her voice.

"Killian?" Snow glanced at her daughter, since when had Captain Hook and Emma been on a first name basis.

"Hook, Killian, whatever your name is, what the hell are you doing here?" Charming took a step towards the pirate, hands on his hips.

"Helping me." Emma spoke up, shifting her gaze from the pirate to her father.

"How?" Snow asked, focusing all her attention on her daughter, her memory of the day Cora cast the curse was still a bit fuzzy, but she remembered Emma going to the docks to arrest Hook for stealing the magic beans, and then the curse had hit and Snow was back in the Enchanted Forest.

"When I went to the docks to get the beans back, Hook told me about Cora's spell, curse, whatever it was, he offered to take me on his ship to find Henry." Emma gave her father a pointed look, "He's the reason why I'm here right now." Snow nodded, they shouldn't threaten the man who reunited then with their daughter.

"And for that we are very grateful, aren't we David?" Snow gave her husband one of her infamous looks, warning him to back off.

"Yes, we are." David was still giving the pirate a death glare, but backing off nonetheless, "Are you alright Emma?"

"Well she got into a disagreement with a glass bottle in Tortuga, but other than that she's just fine." Hook said, a smile plastered across his face.

"Tortuga, you took my daughter to Tortuga!" Snow was grateful that she was standing there to block David, or they most certainly would have a gutted pirate.

"I'm fine David; it wasn't anything I couldn't handle." Snow noted the angry look she gave the captain, there was something oddly familiar about it but Snow shook her head, there was no way that it was the same look that she gave Charming when they first met. Hook and Emma had met a long time ago, climbed a beanstalk and Emma had left him behind, she had beaten him at Lake Nostos, thwarted his revenge on more than one occasion, and threatened to arrest him more than once. He had locked her into an inescapable cell, attacked her at Lake Nostos, attacked Rumplestiltskin, and stolen the magic beans that would let them come home, Snow shook her head, both of them had made each other's lives as difficult as possible, there was no way, but the more she thought about it, the more she saw how similar their story was to her and David's. Speaking of David, she looked and saw him still giving the pirate a death glare, it was time for an intervention.

"Emma's probably very tired, she should get some rest, we can discuss this in the morning." Emma shot her a grateful glance and Snow grabbed her husband's arm, "David, tomorrow."

"Yeah, right." David gave the pirate one more glare before he marched towards the tent that they shared.

"There's another tent over there." Snow said pointing in the direction of the tent not too far from theirs, "It has food, and the one over there." She said pointing to another, "Has some make shift beds for you, we'll see you in the morning." As much as she wanted to talk to her daughter, she knew that she needed rest more, so she walked into the tent to join David.

"Of all of the people in the WORLD, of all the people in all the realms and it had to be him that brought her here." David shouted.

"David." Snow warned, it seemed abundantly clear to her that David had not made the same assessment that Snow did, if he had, he would have murdered the pirate by now. "It has been a very long, and very eventful day to say the least, we all could use some sleep, whatever it is, we will face it much better with some rest." She leaned up and gave him a kiss, even after all their time together, she still felt the spark that was there the first time they had kissed.

"I'm sorry Snow, you're right, he brought her here, and I am grateful for that. That doesn't mean I don't want to feed him to the ogres though." He smiled at the thought.

"David!" She scolded, "You cannot feed Hook to the ogres because you don't like him." Snow had to stifle a laugh because that had been Emma's original plan when she met him, like father like daughter.

"I won't, but that doesn't mean that I can't like the idea of it." David smiled at her, giving her a tight squeeze, "Come on, let's get some sleep, I'm sure we'll need it for tomorrow, it's only a matter of time before Regina finds out Emma is here."

* * *

Hook remained leaning against the tree, staring at Emma intently, knowing that it would have to be him to start the conversation.

"I see where you get your temper from" He flashed a smile that he knew would piss her off.

"Hook, it is late, and I am tired, I'm going to sleep." She started marching towards the tent that Snow had indicated.

"Back to Hook now are we?" He didn't bother to hide the hurt in his voice; the walls he had tried so hard to breakdown were coming back up all at once.

"That is your name isn't it?" She turned and faced him, still a short distance away.

"It's not what you've been calling me lately Swan." He spat back, taking a step forward, and closing the gap significantly. "Tell me something darling, why did you start calling me Killian?" He was now within an arm's length of her.

"If I recall correctly, you told me to." She stared him down, fire in her bright green eyes.

"And when have you ever actually listened to what I've said? Hm?"

"Why did you ask me to call you that in the first place?" She ignored his question.

"You know damn well why I asked." He looked down at her, and for once, she avoided his gaze.

"Why would I ask if I already knew the answer?"

"Fine, you want to know why I told you to call me Killian, because I had buried that man 300 years ago when Milah died, but you brought him back. For 300 years I've been trying to kill Rumplestiltskin, to avenge her death, but that plan all went to hell and back the moment we met. Whether you are willing to admit it or not, there is something here." He gestured to the small gap between them, "And like it or not, it isn't just going to disappear."

Emma finally looked back up at him, and he wasn't sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing, he couldn't read her expression at all, something he was not used to. "It will if you let it." She turned and attempted to walk away, but he grabbed her with his hook before she could.

"That is a lie Emma. You abandoned me on the beanstalk because you were scared to trust me. I could have left you in Neverland, but I came back and saved you. I could have let you bleed to death in Tortuga but I didn't, I have given you every reason to trust me, but you're too scared to do it." He was angry, no matter what he said or did, she was never going to trust him, but the more she pushed away, the more he wanted to push forward.

"This conversation is over." She said icily before turning and walking away. This time he didn't grab her, he was too busy trying to ignore the wave of anger that he knew was coming. Rather than stay, he turned and marched in the opposite direction, walking into the dark forest.

"Bloody woman." He muttered under his breath, her walls were too high to let anyone in, and no matter how much he broke down, they always seemed to come back up.

He walked for at least an hour in an attempt to cool off, as much as he wanted to have a screaming match with Emma, he knew that she would just use it as an excuse to get away from him, and that was the last thing that he wanted. He debated going back to the camp at all, Emma was back with her family, which was all that she wanted, and clearly he was not wanted there, that much was made evident by her father. _Bloody hell Hook, you found the most frustrating woman in all the realms, and that's the one that you're falling in love with, simply brilliant. _At least he could admit that he loved her, Emma wouldn't even acknowledge her feelings, much less openly admit that she loved him.

For the second time that day, a cracking twig brought him back to reality, "Emma, you really need to work on your stealth skills, they're quite rusty." He turned and was confronted by at least 4 men dressed in solid black armor, _no friends of the Charming's clearly. _

"Ah, just what I need, another royal welcome" He whispered under his breath before looking at one of the guards "I suppose you aren't here to invite me to tea?" Hook placed his good hand on the hilt of his sword, 4 men wouldn't be all that bad of odds, he had certainly faced worse before.

"We are with Regina, the rightful queen of this land, and she wishes to talk to you pirate." The man glowered at Hook, "It's your choice whether it is the easy way or the hard way."

"While I'm truly flattered, I have no interest in talking to her, so, have a nice evening." He turned and found himself facing two more men, the odds were quickly swinging against him.

"You assume she is offering you a choice, we have orders to bring you to her, now, let's go." Before the guard had time to react, he pulled the sword out of its sheath, taking out the two guards behind him in one swoop.

The fighting continued on, and Hook had managed to take out all but one enemy. It was his luck that it was the strongest man there.

"Tell Regina she'll have to do better than that if she wants to talk to me," he said darkly, eyeing the bodies surrounding him.

"Oh, she did." He replied, Hook gave him a momentary confused look before turning, but it was too late, he felt the hilt of a sword slam against his head, and then blackness.

* * *

**Please don't hate me for leaving this cliff hanger, I promise that I will get the next chapter out quick. Anyways, I hope you liked it, but we are starting to near the end. Leave a comment and let me know what you think though!**


	13. Chapter 13

**Wow! 13 Chapters, can't believe that this turned out the way that it has! Anyways, I'm going to just warn you ahead of time, I got a crap ton of feels from this chapter, so just a fair warning, I really hope that you like it! 3**

* * *

Killian was pretty sure this was one of the worst circumstances he had ever found himself in, if not the worst.

"Are you going to answer pirate, or sit there and act innocent?" Cora said impatiently, giving the pirate a hateful look, _if looks could_ _kill. _

"I've never claimed myself to be an innocent individual." He replied smoothly, it was the truth after all, even as a child he was prone to mischief, it was why becoming a pirate had been so alluring to him.

The slap across his face was not unexpected, but he had to give Regina some credit, she knew how to hit, _not quite as hard as Swan though. _

"Your life is in our hands right now, so I suggest you be more cooperative, where are they?"

"Where are who?" He feigned innocence.

"You know exactly who." Regina moved towards him again, probably to hit him, he braced himself but the blow never came.

"Regina, he is valuable to us, we must be patient, he will tell us exactly where they are, just give it some time." If Cora was anything, other than downright evil, she was patient, but 300 years of waiting had taught him patience, and he could wait anything out just as easily as she could.

"We don't have time mother, Emma is here, and she is going to go after my son, and I refuse to let that happen."

"All due respect majesty," _not really, _"Isn't he Emma's son." The next hit sent him to the ground and he found himself grateful that his ribs had healed.

"He is **my **son." If he didn't watch himself, he was going to be killed.

"Right, apologies." He tried to keep the venom out of his tone, but he couldn't help it, Regina kidnapped Henry, a real mother would never do that to someone she claimed to love, although Cora didn't exactly seem like a good role model.

"Where is she _Captain_?"

"I have no idea." He wasn't exactly lying, her exact location at that moment was a mystery to him, but he had a pretty good idea of where it was.

"Come now, why are you so hell bent on protecting her, hm? What has she done for you?" He hated the way that Cora was mocking him, she knew exactly why he wasn't telling them, just like she had seen it at the base of the beanstalk, at that time, the feelings weren't as strong.

"Your past love would be so disappointed in you." The words cut him deep, he still loved Milah, she had a place in his heart, she always would, but that didn't stop him from falling for Emma, the worst possible woman to ever fall in love with.

"You don't know that." Truthfully, Milah would have hated that he had lived so miserably for 300 years, even if it was all for her.

"I suppose not, but I can just imagine how well her _charming _parents will take the news. A pirate in love with a princess, how long did you think that would last?" Now Killian wished that looks could kill, because both Cora and Regina would be on their knees in front of him.

"We gave you the opportunity to kill Rumplestiltskin, made sure that no one would stop you, that no one _could _stop you, and this is the thanks that we get? You bring her here, you help her, after everything that she has done to you, and look where it got you. I thought you were better than that, love is weakness, you should know that better than anyone, and yet here you are." He was about to die, he knew it, but he didn't find himself regretting any of his actions, if he could go back, he would do it all over again, because he knew Emma, and she would get her son back, and that was all that mattered to him.

He felt her hand in his chest, and he cried out in agony, it had been a long time since someone had grabbed his heart, he had almost forgotten how painful it was.

"Was it worth it Captain, was she really worth dying over?" He leaned his head back, wishing that she would just rip his heart out already, but she seemed to know that, because she waited for an answer.

"Yes." His voice came out breathy.

She yanked his heart out of his chest and put it right in front of him, so that he could watch as his life ended. "Goodbye Captain." She started squeezing, if the pain that he had experienced before was bad, this was a nightmare.

"Mother wait!" Regina's voice rang out, and instantly, the pain lessened as Cora stopped, giving her daughter an impatient look.

"What is it Regina?"

"How did you convince Emma to trust you?" Regina ignored her mother's looks, focusing her attention on him.

_Emma still doesn't trust me, after everything that I've done she still won't let her walls down around me, and if I know Emma, any bit of trust she might have had is gone now because she'll assume that I left her, _"She doesn't" The answer came out more bitter than he intended.

"She must, bringing her here, to this land, she had to trust that you would bring her here, and not somewhere else." He could see the wheels turning in her head, and he didn't like what she was implying.

"Regina, what are you talking about?" Cora still hadn't killed him, which he should have been grateful for, but if Regina and Cora spared him, it meant that they were going to use him for something else, and that was much worse than simply dying now.

"Emma Swan doesn't trust anyone, not even her own mother and father, so why would she believe that Captain Hook would bring her here." The smirk on Regina's face made him cringe.

"You think that she fell in love with him." Now Cora's expression matched Regina's, this was not boding well.

"Hate to break it to you ladies, but she had no choice on the matter, and if you believe that Emma is capable of loving someone, especially me, you are indeed, crazy." He tried to make the argument convincing, but he had broken down Emma's walls just as much as she had his, and underneath the façade, they were both two broken people, but he was a pirate, and he had done too many bad things to be worthy of love again, especially from someone like Emma.

"Not crazy, just observant, mother, I think it's time we started showing mercy, don't you?" The way that Regina was still smiling, he was sure that mercy was the exact opposite of what she was planning.

"I couldn't agree more my dear." Her hand went back into his chest, and came back out again, this time, with no heart. He let out a breath that he hadn't realized he was holding in before the guards yanked him off the ground, "Let's go."

"You're making a mistake." He struggled against the guards, but no weapons or hook made it a losing battle, "She won't help me, she doesn't love me." The words came out pained, but he hoped that that would make it believable, he wasn't sure just how deep the connection between Emma and him was, but he knew that Emma would try to save him, she was too noble not to.

"On the contrary Captain, I believe this is anything but a mistake." Regina turned and walked away, fully confident that whatever she was planning was going to work, he had a bad feeling about this.

* * *

_Get it together Emma, _she had caught herself pacing again, she could just imagine all the comments he would be making _'if you are so agitated love I can think of a few activities we could do that would ease the tension' along with a suggestive smirk and a raised eyebrow, damn pirate. _

It really shouldn't have surprised her that he was gone, abandonment was something that she had gotten used to a long time ago, still, there was something in the back of her mind that told her something was off. _'I could have left you in Neverland, but I came back and saved you, I could have let you bleed out in Tortuga, but I didn't' _his words repeated in her head like a broken record.

_Damn it Emma, it doesn't even matter, it shouldn't matter, _but it did, as much as it pained her to admit, it hurt that he was gone, that he had left after everything they had been through. _Leaving is just out of character, that's why you're bothered by it, you just make everyone want to leave, _still, she couldn't shake the feeling that he had a reason for leaving, like leaving wasn't voluntary.

"Emma?" She didn't even have to turn to know that her mother had a frown on her face; the tone of her voice had given that away.

"Yeah?"

"Emma, what's wrong?" She turned to face her mother and saw the genuine concern on her face, how could she have ever thought her parents were low life's who didn't care about her.

"It's nothing, I'm just worried about Henry." She tried to brush past her mother, but she grabbed her arm, _just like Hook on the beanstalk, and last night, and…stop it Emma! _

"It's not nothing Emma, I may have only been your mother for a little bit, but I've been your friend too, and I know that look." Of course perception was a family trait, _'for someone who_'s _never been in love you're quite perceptive aren't you?' okay, this is getting out of hand. _

"I just want to find Henry, that's all." She pushed past her mother, and this time, she didn't stop her, she just needed some time to think, to figure out what her plan was.

"Snow, there you are." David made his way over to the pair, and gave them a warm smile, but frowned when they didn't return it, "What's wrong?"

"Something's bothering Emma and she won't tell me what it is." Mary Margaret said before Emma got the chance to say anything, David gave her a leveled look, "Emma, what's wrong?"

"Nothing, nothing is wrong, I'm just trying to figure out how to get Henry back so that we can get back home." He didn't look like he believed her, but he seemed willing to let it go, thankfully.

"Right, well, she can't find us here, the blue fairy cast a spell that protects us as long as we stay in this area, but it won't hold forever, we have to get a plan soon, where's Hook." Emma let out an exasperated breath, apparently not thinking about him was out of the question.

"He's gone." She tried to hide the bitterness in her voice, but judging from the look on her mother's face, she had failed miserably.

"Wait, gone? He left?" David's face was torn between annoyance and happiness.

"Yup." She answered shortly, "Left last night."

"Did he say why?" Mary Margaret gave her a daughter a curious look.

"Nope."

"Interesting, because the way he was acting last night made it seem like he had no intention of leaving anytime soon." She didn't have to say anything more for Emma to know what her mother was implying.

"Well he's gone, so whatever you needed him for David, you'll just have to find someone else." She once again unsuccessfully hid the bitterness in her tone, but this time, her father seemed to notice.

"Are you sure you don't know why he's gone?" Emma wanted to slap her father, would it be inappropriate considering who he was?

"Look, he and I got into an argument last night, and he left, he hasn't been back since." She hated admitting it, but she said it in the hopes that her parents would lay off the subject, unfortunately, luck was not in her favor.

"What did the two of you argue about?" _Oh you know, him trying to convince me that I'm in love with him, that we have a connection that we most certainly do not have, that I have major trust issues that prevent me from even letting in my own parents, much less a man that saved my life on multiple occasions, nothing vastly important. _

"It's not important. He's gone, that is all that matters."

"It doesn't sound like nothing." David was looking at her intently, if he only knew what their argument was about, she was sure he would gut the pirate in question.

"Is that why you're upset, because he left?" Mary Margaret's expression matched David's, and Emma suddenly felt like she was cramped in a small room, despite being in an open forest.

"I'm not upset, I don't care that he is gone, I just want to find my son and get home." She shouted loudly, all her control and resolve completely gone at the mention of her upset that he was gone, was she really that easy to read, _'Well, I don't need you to share, you're something of an open book.' _

"Really, because it certainly seems like you do, you know, I felt the same way when Charming left to marry Abigail, I drank a potion to make me forget him."

"Snow what exactly are you implying?" David was slowly realizing what exactly was going on, and the more they uncovered, the less he seemed to like it.

"I'm just saying that she has every right to be angry that he left, that's all." _Lie._

"Don't worry David, you're safe, his true love died a long time ago." _'Who's Milah, on the tattoo? Someone from long ago. Where is she? She's gone.' _

Despite the circumstances, David let out a sigh of relief, _yeah right, a pirate and a princess, not that you're really the princess material, but still. _

"I didn't know he had a true love." Her mother commented, clearly not believing her, _he loved her, spent God only knows how long trying to avenge her, that's true love right?_

"Yeah, Milah, it's why he wanted to kill Rumplestiltskin." She was already treading on dangerous territory, revealing how much she actually knew about the captain's tragic yet oddly familiar backstory.

"Moving on, you don't think he left to warn Regina and Cora do you?" David clearly wanted to move off the subject of Hook and Emma as a potential love interest, and Emma was more than happy to comply.

"No he wouldn't do that." _No matter how pissed off he got at me, he wouldn't betray me for them, would he? _That feeling that something was off wasn't going away, and the more she thought about him leaving, the more it didn't make sense, _why now, why not any other time, and why go through the effort to help her if he was only going to help Regina and Cora in the end. _

"Are you sure?" David didn't seem convinced.

"Trust me, he dislikes the two of them just as much as we do, he won't help them, besides, he doesn't even know where we are, how could he help them?"

"She has a point Charming." Good, at least her mother was agreeing with her on something.

"Right well, we have to come up with a plan, find a way to stop Regina before…" Emma couldn't finish her sentence because she was suddenly hit with an agonizing pain in her chest.

"Emma, Emma what's wrong?" Her mother's frantic voice sounded far away, but Emma tried to use it as an anchor, keeping her weighted to the real world. She didn't understand where it was coming from, but it was agonizing, like someone had taken her heart out, and was crushing it, but that was impossible, no one could rip her heart out.

"Emma, talk to me." David's voice was not nearly as frantic as her mother's, but it was still laced with worry.

_Killian, _she wasn't exactly sure how she knew he was in trouble, that it was his pain that she was feeling, she just did.

"Emma please, just say something." Her mother was begging her, and tears seemed to be forming in her eyes.

"I…" It was subsiding, slowly but surely, "I think I'm okay." Her breathing was shaky, and the words came out barely above a whisper, but it was enough for her mother to reach in and hug her tightly, almost too tightly.

"Less okay." She gasped, for such a tiny woman, Mary Margaret was strong.

"Right, sorry." She pulled away, giving David room to do the same, but instead, he kissed her forehead lightly, the warmth from the kiss bringing her back to her normal self.

"What happened?" He asked after they had sat for a moment in complete silence.

"I'm not sure, I just, I got this really horrible pain in my chest, like my heart was being crushed, and then it was gone." She left out her theory on why she got the pain in the first place, Mary Margaret was already convinced there was something between the two of them, she didn't want to add fuel to the fire, besides, she couldn't feel if he was in pain anyways, that was ridiculous, he hadn't felt pain when she got stabbed.

"Like your heart was being crushed, but Emma, that's impossible, Cora couldn't rip out your heart, she doesn't even know that you are here, how could she cause you that pain?" Emma wasn't focusing on her mother though, because her father's face had turned nearly as pale as her mother's.

"David…" Whatever he was thinking, her words seemed to snap him back to reality, "Sorry, what did you ask?"

"I didn't ask anything…" He was hiding something, and she could tell.

"Right, well, let's figure out how to get to Regina and Cora before this happens again." He stood up abruptly, offering his hand to his wife and helping her off the ground.

"You're hiding something." She said standing up, ignoring the hand that he offered, he avoided her gaze, _yup, definitely hiding something. _

"Charming? Do you know something that we don't?" It wasn't exactly an accusatory tone, but it was enough for him to look up at the two of them.

"No, I don't know anything more than you." _Oh yeah, he was a terrible liar. _

"Look, I can tell when people are lying, and you most definitely are." She hoped that whatever he was hiding, he had good reason to, and none of that 'I'm just trying to protect you bs.'

"He already had a true love, it's impossible." He muttered under his breath, but it wasn't quiet enough, and Emma felt the forest was closing in on her again.

"What did you say?" Mary Margaret forced her husband to look at her, giving him a rather threatening look, she was definitely not the Snow White she had read about in the stories.

"He already had a true love." He mumbled louder this time, but he looked towards Emma when he said it.

"Who already had a true love, Charming what the hell are you talking about?"

"You don't know what you're implying David." The way he was looking at her, like he was admitting defeat made her nervous, _why does he have such a defeated look on his face? _

"I know exactly what I'm implying Emma."

"Will someone please explain to me what the hell is going on?" Mary Margaret shouted, exchanging looks between daughter and husband, trying to determine who she could break first, _yeah, she's much tougher than the Snow White from the stories. _

"Do you remember when Regina made you eat the poisoned apple that put you in the sleeping curse?" He turned his attention back towards Mary Margaret.

"Of course I do, what does this have to do with Emma feeling like her heart was ripped out?"

"Well, when you ate the apple, I felt the exact same way, like someone was reaching into my chest and crushing my heart. I couldn't explain it, but I knew you were in trouble, and I knew that I had to find you." Emma froze, he was implying so much from that one statement, and frankly, it was ridiculous, she was not in love with Killian Jones, and he was most certainly not her true love, she didn't even believe that she had one, much less that person being a pirate.

"David that is not what happened at all." She tried to sound convincing, but she knew she was failing miserably.

"Emma, you may be able to tell when someone is lying, but you're really bad at lying yourself." Her mother pointed out.

"I'm not lying." She lied, _how ironic, you're lying about lying, good job Emma. _

"Emma, you're putting that wall up again." She knew it too, it was her defense mechanism, her way of denying any feelings towards people, but he had somehow managed to break through it, just like Henry had, just like her mother and father had, just like Graham did, for however short a period of time.

"I…he…it's not possible." Emma did what she always did when she was in an uncomfortable situation, she walked away, _just like he walked away, and somehow managed to get caught by Cora and Regina, idiot. _

"Emma you can run as far as you like for as long as you like, but those feelings are not just going to go away, trust me, I know." David ran to catch up with her, matching her pace as she continued to walk, not exactly sure where she was going, but letting her feet carry her along the way.

"What you guys are saying is insane, I can't be in love with him, he's so…" _Aggravating, infuriating, cocky, handsome, (unbelievably handsome), frustrating, even more infuriating, what the hell, even more aggravating too! _

"Infuriating, like he knows exactly what you're thinking, even if no one else does?" Her mother added, giving her daughter a knowing look.

"No!" She saw her mother raise a brow, "Maybe, I don't know, but just because he knows me doesn't mean that we are true love that is your thing." She gestured to the pair, "Not mine."

"Emma, everyone has a true love, not just your father and I, look at Aurora and Philip, they were true love."

"And we see where that got them." She wasn't sure about the details of Philip leaving, but she knew that he wasn't here, and that's what mattered, he had left, even though they were true love.

"Emma, his soul was sucked up by a wraith, Mulan and Aurora have been trying to find a way to get it back, he risked his life to save theirs, he didn't leave them, he protected them" _'There are other dangers, thankfully you've got me to protect you' did every word she hear have to remind her of him, is that what true love is about, not being able to get someone off your mind, no, not true love, _she corrected.

"That doesn't mean that Hook is my true love, just because he helped us on the beanstalk." _And in Neverland, and in Tortuga, and on the ship. _

"Emma, I may not like the guy, but if he really cares about you, that's enough for me." David interrupted, _yes, because 28 years of no father, and suddenly your approval is all I need to convince me that I love Killian, Hook, whatever his name is. _

"Where are you even going?" She hadn't realized that she was still walking, but she saw that she was approaching a barrier, probably the one that the Blue Fairy had put up as protection.

"I don't know." She finally stopped, leaning up against a tree, trying to clear her thoughts. _A pirate as a true love, how ironic would that be, a pirate and a princess, _but she didn't grow up to be a princess, she had grown up in the foster system, hopping from family to family until she was sixteen, he ran away because his father had abused him, he became a pirate, she became a thief, _okay those are pretty much the same thing. _He lost Milah, she lost Neal, _both because of Rumplestiltskin, _he let the anger he felt for the loss of Milah fuel his quest for revenge, she let the anger over going to jail fuel her in her career as a bail bondsman, _okay, so we aren't that different. _She had been thinking so much about how similar they were, she hadn't even heard what her father was saying until he stopped, looking at her expectantly.

"What?" She stared at him dumbly, trying to get her mind off the pirate that was locked away in Regina's castle somewhere.

"I was asking what the plan was." He repeated, giving a wary glance to Mary Margaret.

"The plan for what?" She really shouldn't have let her mind wander like that, for more than one reason.

"Emma, don't think for one second we are naïve enough to think that you aren't going to go after them, especially now, we just need to figure out a plan first." _Them, Henry and Killian are in the same place, I can just save them both at the same time, then we'll be even and Henry will be safe. _

"Right, how many people do we have on our side exactly?" She asked, Regina probably had tons of people under her, people who feared her, and then there was Cora, who might still have that zombie army from the last time they were in the Enchanted Forest.

"Well, we have almost everyone from Storybrooke, all the fairies and dwarves, Ruby and Granny, somehow Whale is here too, Mulan and Aurora, and some others, but it isn't exactly an army." Her mother seemed guilty about how few people were backing them up, but it was actually more than she had expected, still not enough though.

"I think I've got an idea, but it's risky." She said, she didn't care about the risks much, just as long as she got her son and her pirate, _not her pirate, _back, that was all that mattered. _We both fight for the people we love too, even if it's a losing battle, _she thought, _so maybe we aren't as different and wrong as you thought. _It seemed in her attempt to convince herself that he was all wrong, she had managed to do the exact opposite.

"We are talking about saving Henry, anything is worth the risk." David said, giving Emma a reassuring smile.

"And Hook." Mary Margaret said shooting David a look, he reluctantly nodded before turning his attention back to Emma, "So what's the plan?"

* * *

"Could be a little gentler next time mate." He shouted towards the guard who had thrown him in the room, aggravated at the predicament that he had gotten himself into.

_It's her fault, if she wasn't so bloody stubborn, I wouldn't be here in the first place, _but he knew that he wouldn't have the stubborn, sarcastic, beautiful blonde any other way.

_Alright Hook, options, you have no hook or sword, the lovely queens made sure of that, and your locked in an inescapable prison, options aren't really in your favor are they, _still, giving up was not in his nature, so he started searching the small dungeon for something, anything to help him get out.

Several minutes later, he had come up with nothing, _of course Regina and Cora would make sure I couldn't get out using something in here, and they sent at least four guards to collect him last time, he didn't stand a chance without his sword or hook. _

"Oi, I may be a prisoner, but I'm sure the queen still wants me alive, any chance I could get something to eat?" The guard made no reply, so he continued, "Are you deaf mate, or just dumb?" still no answer, "Perhaps a bit of both?"

"You will get something when the queen decides, not before." The guard replied shortly, _never thought I'd see the day when I considered Prince Charming more hospitable than someone else. _

"Ah, so the mysterious guard does speak, does this guard have a name, or are you just another one of Regina's dummy guards?" He was trying to elicit any sort of a reaction, enough to get the man to come in and 'teach him a lesson'.

"No name, that's a shame, I'll give you a name then, how about…" He stopped to think about it for a moment, "How about Bashful? Since you're too shy to talk, wait, no, I think there's a dwarf that goes by that name." He peeked through the bars to test the man's reaction, though he couldn't see his face, he noticed how tense his arms were, his annoying chatter was working.

"I've got it, how about Dopey, nope, forgot, that's a dwarf name too…Tiny, would Tiny be appropriate, actually, you don't have to answer that, your shape shows enough." The man turned towards the bars, _ah, nothing like insulting one's manhood to get him all riled up. _

"Be careful what you say pirate, you might regret it." His tone was clearly agitated, only a bit more of a push and he would elicit a fight, and Hook could make his escape.

"I'm shaking in my bones, truly. Tell me something Tiny, do you have a woman in your life?" The man ignored the question again, so Hook pressed on, "So you don't, that's a real shame, I have one, or at least I'd like to think so, she'll be mine soon enough. Tough as nails that lass, smart too, can throw a mean right hook, knocked me out once." _Get him angry, then make it seem like you are a weak fighter, make it more tempting for him to attack, and with a lower expectation for the inevitable fight. _

"Got knocked out by a girl, and you're calling me Tiny." The man laughed at him, _excellent. _

"Oh I have no doubt that she could best you, I mean, let's be realistic, I could best you, so she certainly could." _Another low blow to send him over the edge…_

"You say one more word pirate, and this cell will be empty again." _And you're gold. _"Apologies _Tiny, _didn't mean to insult you, I was simply making polite conversation. It really is too bad that you don't have a lass like I do, is it the name, is it a turn off for women?"

"That's it." He heard the jangling of keys and Hook took a few steps back, sitting on the bed, putting a mask of fear on.

"Please, I was only trying to make conversation." He used the same tone he had when he had pretended to be a blacksmith to the princesses, but this man was not nearly as perceptive as Emma had been.

"Well that conversation is going to leave you dead." The man snarled, raising his sword above his head, Hook took his chance, kicking the man straight in the gut, making him drop the sword.

"Sorry mate, don't have any intentions of dying today." He walked behind the man, kicking him to the ground before he walked out of the dungeon, closing the door behind him, but not before grabbing the man's sword, _time to get the hell out of here. _

He made his way down the stairs quickly, remembering all too well the last time he was here, when he had almost killed Belle, _ah how circumstances change, _if anyone had told him that he was running from the queen to save the woman he had fallen in love with, the woman he had given up his revenge for, he would have laughed in their face, yet here he was.

He ran towards what he assumed was the exit to the castle, but stopped halfway there, realizing that there was something else he needed to do before he left, and he turned around, towards the center of the castle, hoping that it wouldn't take long to find what he was looking for.

The halls twisted and turned, and thankfully, there weren't too many guards, he would hate to attract any attention towards himself if he could help it. _Now if you were Regina and Cora, where would you hide away the only thing that matters to you?_ He hoped it wasn't much farther, or he would be…

"Really Captain, I expected better from you." _Caught._

He turned to face the source of the voice, meeting the piercing gaze of Regina, who's expression he couldn't determine, either amusement or anger, or perhaps a bit of both.

"You know, you should really put signs around this palace, one can get lost so easily."

"Did you really think you could waltz around my palace without me finding out about it, try to kidnap my son without me finding out, that's risky even for you." She threw her hands at him, sending him careening into the wall.

"Is there a general rule in your castle that gentleness is not an option?" He winced at the impact.

"Not for thieves, tell me, you had your option to leave, and you didn't, you came back for a boy that you barely know, how much are you willing to do for her?" She walked over to him, placing her hand over his heart, and for a moment, he thought she was going to rip out his heart, but then she pulled it away, staring him down.

"How much?" She repeated.

"Anything." He replied, she knew the answer already, so there was no point in lying to her, still, the smile that she made sent shivers up his spine.

"Good, let's hope that she feels the same." Regina walked away, and with a wave of her hand, he was back on the floor, "Guards, take him back to the dungeon, and make sure he doesn't escape this time."

"What do you mean you hope she feels the same?" He said, fighting against the men that were reaching for his arms.

"I just can't think of a better revenge for her parents or you than watching her die." She had a cold smirk on her face, and Hook fought against the guards even more than before, "You won't kill her, you can't kill her."

"Oh don't worry, it will be her own choice." Regina turned to face him, "But she's too noble to let her parents and love die." She turned and walked away, leaving Hook in the middle of the hallway shouting at her as he was dragged back to the cell.

* * *

**Well? I hope that it wasn't too too bad, and worth the wait. So, I have exams coming up starting next week, I'll try to dish out a chapter before then, but I make no promises. Also, we are getting near the end of the story, probably only 2-3 chapters left, depending on what the muse feels, we'll have to see!**

**As you know, comments are super super loved and appreciated...and...have a good night...day...whatever time it is where you are :)**


	14. Chapter 14

**I solemnly swear that I will never take that long to update again. It has been really stressful with exams and familial issues but I am BACK! **

**Fair warning. I did not beta this because I figured that would take too long and you would rather have a few errors than wait another day for an update. So, for those of you who have been patiently waiting, thank you. And I hope you enjoy it!**

* * *

"Emma…" The hesitant voice of her father interrupted her thoughts.

"What?" She said impatiently, stopping for what felt like the umpteenth time and turned to face her father.

"It's not that I don't have faith in you, because I do. It's just that…" His voice faltered as he met her hard gaze.

"It's just that what?"

"Are you sure it's such a good idea to be working with pirates? Do you know if they will even listen to you? Assuming they are still there to begin with." Mary Margaret nodded in agreement.

"They'll listen." She stated turning around to continue towards the Jolly Roger, her parents not far behind.

"But how can you be sure." This time it was Mary Margaret's voice that rang with hesitancy. For people that claimed to have a lot of faith in her, they sure as hell weren't showing it.

She spun around to face her parents and gave them both a hard stare. "Look. My son and the guy who helped me get back to him _who may or may not be my true love, _are in danger. Now. We can either sit at the haven twiddling our thumbs or we can man up and do something about it."

Both her parents stared at her for a moment, neither really knowing what to say.

"I'm sorry. It may not be the best plan ever, but it's the only one that we've got." She didn't feel confident, but she masked that as best as she could.

"I'm just not sure if I can put my faith in pirates." Her father spoke hesitantly. Emma wasn't sure if it was out of pure hesitancy in trusting pirates, or out of fear she would start yelling again. Maybe a bit of both.

"How is it any different than putting your faith in knights that you never met before?" She retorted. Henry had told her all about Charming's past, including him relying on a few knights to slay a dragon near Midas's kingdom.

"Because…"

"It's not different. At the end of the day, they are all men fighting for the same cause. I'm not asking you to believe them. I'm asking you to believe in me." That seemed to do the trick, _thank God, _as David and Mary Margaret nodded to continue moving.

It was another few minutes before they reached the Jolly Roger but the moment she saw it, she felt at home. She climbed the gangplank her father close behind in full on protective parent mode, something she wasn't quite used to yet.

"Emma?" Teach's voice came from her right and she turned to see him, a warm smile on his face. _Seriously, this guy reminds me of those sweet old substitute teachers, not a first mate._

"Mr. Teach." She nodded towards him, scanning the deck to see the reactions of the crew, just in case anyone was getting ready to attack.

"Where's the Captain?" He gave a short glance to her parents before returning his attention back to her.

"He managed to get himself kidnapped by Regina and now we have to go save him. It's ironic really. All the stories I read said that the princess was the damsel in distress, not the pirate." She tried to lighten the mood but the seriousness of the situation made it nearly impossible.

"The Evil Queen? The one who took your son right?" She nodded. "Well then, do you have a plan?" Some of the crew had gathered around after hearing about the captain. She only hoped they would listen to her, even though she wasn't the captain.

"I do. It's risky but it might work." Teach, her parents, and all the crew listened intently as she ran through her plan with them.

"I know that it's not the greatest. But Hook's your captain and you have to have some kind of loyalty to him."

"Aye. He's our Cap'n. But he got himself into trouble. That ain't our fault. Not worth risking out lives." One of the crew voiced, a few nodded in agreement but not nearly as many as Emma had expected.

"I don't care if you knew him for a minute. He took you in as his crew. Made sure that you all had bunks and food and all the other things that you needed. The Jolly Roger can sail without a crew. How the hell do you think we managed to get to Tortuga in the first place?" The silence made her uneasy but she continued nonetheless. "Yeah. He didn't have to go to Tortuga. He didn't have to give you guys jobs or provide anything for you. But he did. And now you owe him, so you best start getting ready to set sail. We'll be leaving within an hour." She didn't leave any opportunity for arguing as she turned towards the first mate who was gazing at her admiringly.

"What?"

"Nothing. Are you going back to get everyone else?" He asked. She nodded. "We'll see you soon then." She smiled and turned away but stopped abruptly as she thought of something.

"Regina doesn't know where the Jolly Roger is but she has an idea of where the haven is. If we aren't back by sundown, take the crew and sail to Regina's palace to save him. Understand?"

"I do."

"And Henry." She added. She didn't want Henry to grow up locked away from the world. If she trusted anyone but her family to take care of Henry, it was Hook.

"We will. Emma?" He called as she turned to walk down the gangplank.

"Yeah." She met his gaze and he smiled again.

"You'll get him back." It was such a simple statement, but it carried with it more meaning than most could imagine.

"I know." And without another word she walked back down the gangplank to join her parents.

"Ready to go?" Her father asked. Now that he had seen the crew, David seemed surer of the situation. Something Emma was grateful for. She didn't want to have another argument on the way back.

"Yeah. Let's go." She let them follow this time since they had a better idea of where the haven was then she did.

They walked in silence for a while, something Emma was incredibly grateful for. She needed time to think, especially after the revelation of Hook possibly being her true love. It was a lot to take in. On the one hand, he infuriated her to no end with his constant flirting and innuendoing. On the other hand, she always felt like they had had a special connection. He could understand her without her needing to say a word aloud and she had the same understanding of him. She could hold a conversation with him without saying a word. A task she had noticed her parents do quite often in the short time they had been together.

"That was amazing. The way you talked to everyone on the ship back there. Not many people have the strength to do that, but you did." Her mother's voice brought her back to reality.

"Thanks I guess." She mumbled half-heartedly.

"No 'I guess' Emma. It takes an incredibly strong person to lead a group of people; especially when those people don't really believe in the cause you are fighting for." Her mother was looking at her with that 'I'm really proud to call you my daughter right now' look and it made Emma feel uneasy. She wasn't completely accustomed to the having a family again but she was trying.

"Must be in the genes." Her mother's face broke out in a broad grin.

"Stop." Charming's commanding voice broke through and Emma snapped her head up, giving her father a questioning glance.

"What is it?" Her mother asked scanning the forest around her.

"I thought I heard something." He said scanning the forest as well. Emma listened carefully but couldn't hear anything out of the ordinary.

"It's probably just the camp site." She shrugged it off and took a step forward as an arrow came rushing past her, missing her shoulder by mere inches.

"Regina." Snow breathed as she whipped out her bow and an arrow and scanned the forest again. This time much more intently.

"She must have found the haven after she captured Hook. We have to get through the barrier fast." David grabbed Emma's hand before she even had time to react.

"What if they already tore down the barrier and have captured all the people there?" She asked.

"We have to hope that isn't the case." He said grimly as he ran through the woods, sword in hand.

Before Emma could reply she felt a horrible pain in her shoulder before she collapsed to the ground.

"Emma!" Mary Margaret's voice sounded panicked as she rushed to her injured daughter's side.

"Mom?" Her shoulder was killing her and she swore when she saw the arrow jutting from her shoulder.

"David." Mary Margaret called out to her father who was still running ahead.

"Snow we have to keep mov…" His voice trailed off as he turned to see his daughter on the ground, his eyes welling up uncontrollably. "Emma…" He was at her side in an instant, going into full knight mode and breaking the arrow to make it easier to remove.

"We don't have time for this." Emma hissed. The sound of Regina's men were getting closer and it was only a matter of time before all three were captured.

"Then I will carry you the rest of the way." Charming said scooping his daughter up with ease and carrying her bridal style. Snow stood up quickly and followed them through the forest but they were still a good distance away from safety.

"This isn't working." Emma growled after a few minutes of the routine. Charming was slowing considerably from carrying Emma and the constant bobbing was not doing her shoulder any good.

"Can you run?" He asked. She nodded but as soon as she was put on the ground she collapsed. The pain had quickly spread through her shoulder, down her arms and through her spine, almost like…

"Poison." Emma spat out.

"What?" Her father was looking at her with bewilderment. This was not the tough as nails Emma Swan that he was used to.

"That arrow had poison on it." _Damn it hurts like a bitch too. _

"Well we can fix that as soon as we get back." Snow said with concern. Emma shook her head. She wasn't strong enough to walk and carrying her would slow her parents down enough that all three of them would be caught.

"Go." She said with determination. Snow immediately shook her head, "I am not losing you again Emma." Charming nodded in agreement.

"Look. You are always saying how we always find each other, no matter what. That good will always win. The only way for that to happen is to go now and get everyone aboard the Jolly Roger." That seemed to make them both falter.

"But you said that it was better to be together." Of course she would choose now to bring those words back.

"Not if it means that we will all die. Please. I know that you will find me and Henry, but you can't do that if you're locked away."

"You're our daughter, we can't just leave you." David said dejectedly. _Good, that means I'm winning._

"It doesn't count as leaving if you come back. Now go, you have to put as much distance between them as possible." She used as much strength as she could to push her father away, which wasn't much.

"We'll find you, I promise." And without another word they ran in the direction of the haven.

It wasn't five minutes later before Regina's guards showed up. A few seemed pleased but one especially exuded confidence: "Pretty good aim from far away. Wouldn't you say princess?" He sneered at her. _Yeah, I already hate this guy._

"My mom shot an ogre in the eye after nearly 28 years of not using a bow. So no, you'll have to do better than that to impress me." She wished the words came out stronger than they did but at least it wiped the smirk off his face.

"Where is your mother? Figured she would be here to protect her pathetic daughter." _Pathetic? Oh this guy was in for it later. _

"Yes. Because betraying my mother is certainly at the top of my to do list. You've been dealing with Regina too much lately."

"Get her up and take her to the queen. She'll be incredibly pleased. Especially after her recent capture." _Hook. Well, if he's captured at least he isn't dead, _though the idea didn't make her feel much better about the circumstances.

"You're choosing the wrong side buddy. But I can give you the chance to surrender now." The man simply laughed before roughly picking her up, sending a jolt of pain through her shoulder. Emma resisted the urge to cry out in pain again, she wouldn't give the asshole the satisfaction.

"Surrender? To you and what army?" He laughed. Emma hid the smile on her face, _a worse army than you might think._

* * *

He cursed Regina and Cora for the millionth time, _damn enchanted cuffs. _They clearly didn't want him to escape again. He tugged at them uselessly, he wasn't known for his ability to keep still.

Pissing off the guard hadn't worked either. Apparently they had chosen a new guard to watch him, one that wasn't so easily insulted by challenges to his manhood.

He really had no one to blame but himself for the circumstances. He had pushed Emma too hard and she was in grave danger because of it. _Well, more grave than before that is. _

His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of footsteps and the guard talking just a bit too low for Hook to hear before an all too familiar voice broke the near silence.

"Captain Hook? What are you doing here?" _Henry. _

"That's a long story lad. I think the more important question is what are _you _doing here?" He knew Henry was hidden away in Regina's palace (mostly because he didn't try to stop the two witches) but what was he doing in the tower where Regina locked away her prisoners.

"I heard that Regina had found someone in the woods and locked them up. I thought it was my mom." He couldn't really see the boy's face through the bars, but he could tell that Henry was frowning at the reminder of his birth mother.

"Sorry to disappoint you lad."

"It's okay. I'm sure she'll find me. Family always finds each other. It's kind of my grandparent's motto."

"I'm sure she will." He was brought back to the moment when he had told Emma he would always find her. It was then he realized why those words had had such a major impact on her.

"So what are you doing here exactly?" Henry asked curiously.

"What did your mother tell you?" It would not surprise him a bit if Regina had lied about why she had locked him up.

"She told me that you tried to steal something from her and she caught you. Is it true?" He had to give Regina credit, she wasn't completely lying. Though attempting to save a young boy from a kidnapper hardly seemed to him like stealing.

"Let's just say that that is not the only reason why she locked me up." He replied simply.

"Why else would she?" He asked curiously.

"I helped your mother."

"You helped my mom? How? Is she here somewhere to?" He sounded torn between hopeful and concerned.

"No, she isn't in the palace lad. But she is in this realm. I brought her here myself."

"But I thought you wanted to kill Mr. Gold? That's what it said in my book anyways. Why would you help her?" Hook closed his eyes for a moment. He had indeed sacrificed his revenge to help Emma. Sure, he had the beans to bring him back and kill Rumplestiltskin. But truthfully, he knew the second he took Emma aboard he would never kill the Dark One that he had hated for well over 300 years.

"Because there are some things more important than revenge lad" He replied honestly.

"You think that my mom is more important than revenge?" _Of course she is. _

He was about to reply but he was interrupted by the stomping of boots and the condescending voice of Regina.

"Henry? What are you doing up here? I thought I told you that you weren't allowed up here. This man is a pirate and he will lie to you every chance that he gets." He couldn't see her face but he knew Regina would be sending him a death glare if she could.

"I know but I heard he was a pirate and I wanted to hear cool stories about his adventures." Henry was lying straight to her face. He seemed to inherit all the good qualities of Emma without the mountains of trust issues that she had.

"Well I'm sorry but you are not allowed to see him anymore. He is too dangerous. Samuel. Please ensure Henry gets back to his room. I would like a moment alone with the captain." He heard a slight protest from Henry before a door clicked shut from below, leaving Hook and Regina alone.

The door swung open and she stood staring daggers at him for a moment before beginning to speak. "What the hell were you doing talking to my son?" She demanded.

"He came to me. As you can probably attest to, I'm a bit tied down at the moment." With a wave of her hand she sent him into the wall, not very far away but still painful.

"Bloody hell." He mumbled under his breath.

"What did you tell him?" She had a commanding tone but there was a distinctly worried hint to it.

"I only told him the truth." He replied simply.

"The truth being?"

"That you are the perfect queen and he should be eternally grateful that you took him." That earned him another throw against the wall. _Damn that hurts. _

"He is my son. I had every right to take him."

"He is Emma's son." He let his anger take over for a minute which wasn't the best course of action considering how much of a hot head Regina could be.

"He is _my son_!" She screamed. "I raised him. I changed every diaper. I soothed every fever. I took him to school every day. He is my son and he will always be my son." She was displaying so much anger that Hook actually thought she might combust for a moment but he couldn't have been so lucky. After a moment she cooled off and gave the captain a menacing smile. "Emma may have given birth to him but he will always be mine." She sounded possessive of him and it made his skin crawl.

"He's a boy Regina, not an object. You don't own him."

"True enough. But I raised him and if anyone should get to raise him it should be me." He couldn't respond because at that very moment one of Regina's guards (Not the one who had taken Henry) came up the stairs.

"Your majesty." He kneeled before her and Hook felt sick to his stomach.

"What is it?" She demanded.

"We found her." Killian gave a start. He wasn't a man who prayed but at that moment, he prayed that they were talking about anyone but Emma.

"You captured Snow White?" The disappointment on her face was evident.

"No. Her daughter. She was a short distance from where we found him." He indicated to Hook. "She's injured but still alive, just as you requested." Hook felt sick to his stomach and he struggled against the chains that were holding him down. As if fighting would do any good.

"Excellent." She turned to face him, a smug smirk on her face. "It looks like there will be a reunion after all captain. I'm sure you can hardly wait." Regina shut the door behind him, leaving Hook to his less than stellar thoughts. He lost Milah and now he was losing Emma and he couldn't help but think it was his fault.

* * *

**I know, it's a bad cliffhanger. But I will have it updated within a week. We are getting into the final chapters and I know where it's going. I hope you liked it, and as always, leave a review to let me know! And again, thanks for sticking by for that horribly long hiatus. **


	15. Chapter 15

**Alright! We're headed into the final chapters here. Maybe one or two left depending on how long the next chapter is. I have a good idea of what I am doing with it though, just got to get it all out. Anyways, thanks again for your patience and I really hope you enjoy it!**

* * *

Her shoulder was hurting like a bitch, she was in Regina's palace with a very pissed off Regina, and she had no idea where Killian or her son was. As far as days go, this one was proving to be one of the worst. It didn't help that the poison made it nearly impossible to walk and Regina's palace guards were being less than friendly.

"It's not that hard to walk princess." The guard sneered as he half dragged her down the corridor. Luckily for her, he was pulling on her good shoulder.

"It is when some asshole decided to shoot you with a poisoned arrow." She spat at him. She may have been physically weak but she would still put up one hell of an argument.

"The queen should teach you some manners while she's at it." He replied tugging at her arm, as if that would make her move any faster.

"You're one to talk buddy." That earned her another painful arm tug. Luckily (Or unluckily depending on how you looked at it) they had reached a set of double doors, no doubt leading to Regina and Cora. The guard used his free hand to knock on the door and waited patiently for a response. He didn't have to wait long.

"Enter." He pulled the door open before yanking her through it. _And he says I need to learn manners. _Her shoulder was killing her and the poison coursing through her body was making her weaker by the second but she put on a brave face against Regina and Cora.

"Hello Miss Swan." The queen said coolly.

"Regina." She sent her best glare at the woman who had taken her son.

"The daughter of Snow White and Prince Charming dying at your feet, how does it feel my love?" The cold smirk on Cora's face sent shivers down her spine. She was in deep trouble.

"It's not enough." She replied. _What the hell do you mean it's not enough? _

"What the hell did Mary Margaret do that made you so horrible Regina?" Her mother had always told her that she deserved all the hatred that Regina threw at her but she had never said exactly what she had done to her.

"It doesn't matter what Snow did. She ruined Regina, and now Regina can get her vengeance." Cora replied quickly, almost too quickly.

"She tried to kill her, tried to kill my father and me, created a curse to make my parents miserable, like hell it doesn't matter." She knew that Gold had done everything to get his son back, Killian had done everything to avenge Milah, Regina had to have some motivation to kill her mother and ruin her family, didn't she?

"That's enou…"

"Daniel." Regina mumbled quietly, but there was a softness in her tone that Emma had only seen on a few occasions when she was talking about or with Henry.

"Regina." Cora's tone was warning, _why the hell is Cora trying to hide Regina's reasons?_

"Who is Daniel?" She asked curiously.

"He was my true love." She said after a few moments. Emma couldn't do anything but stare at Regina for a moment. _Regina had a true love? _

"That is enough Regina. Love is weakness. You should not show any weakness to her." Cora lifted her hand and sent Emma flying across the room. Regina didn't even flinch; she must have still had her thoughts on Daniel.

"What happened to him Regina?" She wasn't sure if she was asking out of curiosity or just to spite Cora, perhaps a bit of both.

"It was a long time ago; I was living with my mother and father. We had a stable boy named Daniel. He was always around when I was growing up. He taught me to ride, he was always so sweet to me." Regina (as cliché as it was) stared out the window longingly.

"You fell in love with him?" She asked, already knowing the answer.

"I did." She nodded.

"But she married the king so she could become queen." Cora interrupted.

"But you didn't want to." Emma saw the pain in Regina's eyes, even understood it a bit.

"He was killed right after I met the king."

"My mother, Snow White killed him?" She couldn't imagine her mother killing anyone but that had to be the reason for all this. Didn't it?

"She betrayed my secret and that betrayal led to his death." Regina turned to face Emma again. "She destroyed my happiness and now I'm going to destroy hers."

_Well damn, this is not working the way that I wanted it to. _"Hang on a second. If she betrayed your secret, then who was it that actually killed Daniel?" She was willing to say anything to buy herself a few more minutes.

"I did." Cora said without remorse. "I had to do what was best for my daughter, and that stable boy would have ruined everything."

"So you created a curse, tore my family apart, nearly killed all of us, all because your mother killed the man that you loved." She was trying to wrap her head around it but it was proving to be difficult. She saw the flicker of doubt in Regina's eyes, _so she does recognize her mother's part in all this_. But why was Mary Margaret getting the blame?

"If it hadn't been for your mother my mother never would have known about Daniel." There were tears in Regina's eyes and her voice was cracking. Emma couldn't help but feel sorry for her, despite the really shitty circumstances that she was in.

"Why did you even kill Daniel?" She directed the question towards Cora who looked like she was torn between killing her on the spot or let her suffer for all eternity; maybe a bit of both knowing Cora.

"To make my daughter happy."

"Yeah, did a real bang up job of that, didn't you?" She winced when she hit the wall again.

"Told you the queen would teach you some manners." The guard said with a cocky smile. He was lucky that he shot her or she would have killed him for that comment, or any of the ones beforehand.

"Did you send the guards for him?" Cora said towards the man. He nodded in reply. "Excellent." There was a cold smirk on Cora's face that made Emma incredibly uneasy.

"Regina, you're angry. I get it. I really do but this has got to stop." She couldn't believe that she was trying to talk sense into the Evil Queen, yet there she was.

"Do you never learn?" Her insides were burning from whatever the hell was in that poison but she wasn't giving up.

"Do you feel better Regina? Do you need my mother to be miserable so you can be happy? It doesn't bring him back. Your mother killed him and killing my entire family won't bring him back." She saw the flash of doubt in Regina's eyes. Emma was definitely getting through to her.

Cora was close enough now that she could physically hit her and she took the opportunity, slapping Emma across the face leaving a cut on her cheek. _Stupid fucking rings._

"You know. I was planning on ripping out your pirate's heart the moment he got here. He did betray us after all by bringing you here." Cora gave her a mocking smile. "But that wasn't nearly suffering enough for what he did and killing you will be the perfect way to hurt Snow White. It really is a win-win situation." Cora was talking about it so casually; no wonder Regina had such murderous tendencies. Her mother wasn't exactly the best role model.

The next moment another set of double doors were flung open and in came two guards with a very aggravated pirate in between them.

"Killian." She was so relieved to see him, despite the awful circumstances they were in. He looked a bit worse for wear but he was still alive and kicking, both of which Emma was extremely grateful for.

"Emma? What happened to your shoulder?" _Of course that was the first thing that he noticed when he saw her._

"So you're on a first name basis now, how sweet." Cora replied with a fake smile, one that sent shivers down her spine and made Killian frown.

"What happened Swan?" There was concern etched in his brow.

"This asshole" She gestured towards the guard standing above her with a nod of the head "Decided it would be a good idea to shoot me with a poisoned arrow. Not as bad as in Tortuga." He gave her a look that said he wasn't buying into the lie. He knew her too well; she was putting up a wall. _Damn him for reading her so well. _

"Poisoned?" He looked like he was about to punch a wall from being so angry. It was oddly comforting, to have someone other than her family care so deeply about her well-being.

"Indeed it was poisoned. Couldn't very well have that scene at the lake repeated could we?" Regina and Killian both gave Cora a confused look but Emma knew exactly what she was talking about.

"You set it all up?" She had to give Cora credit, she was thorough.

"Indeed I did."

"Set what up?" Killian asked impatiently, clearly not following along with Cora's plan.

"I think a visual aid is needed." She felt an aching all through her midsection and saw that Cora's hand was in her chest.

"NO!" His voice sounded so broken and out of the corner of her eye she could see that he was fighting the guards with everything that he had in him. So much so that other guards had to run over to make sure that he didn't escape.

"Kill me. You know you want to Cora. After everything that I've done to you, I brought Emma here. Just kill me." Cora shook her head. "After everything that you've done you deserve a punishment far worse than death. And I can't think of a more fitting punishment then watching your so called 'true love' die the same way your old love died." _Not to mention destroying her parents and leaving Regina as the only other guardian for Henry. _

She couldn't really tell from this far away (especially because her vision seemed to be blurring) but she could swear that there were tears threatening as he watched. Emma tried to hide the pain but it was killing her (quite literally).

She felt the familiar tugging sensation in her chest but nothing more. Odd, she had always assumed that getting your heart ripped out was a rather painful process.

"That's not possible." Cora said angrily as she tried to pull her hand out but failed. Killian had stopped screaming long enough to realize that despite Cora's best efforts, Emma's heart remained in her chest.

"Emma?" His face had the most bewildered look on it.

"Don't ask me. I'm no good at this whole magic thing." All she knew was that apparently this whole poison thing wasn't working because Cora's attempts to rip her heart out were just as successful as they were at Lake Nostos.

Finally, with a huff, Cora removed her hand from her chest and Emma collapsed to the floor. She may still have her heart but her chest was still hurting like a bitch.

"You told me that it would work." Cora started marching in Killian's direction, and for the briefest moment Emma thought she was actually talking to the pirate. But a moment later it was clear that she was directing her attention towards one of the guards near him, more specifically, the guard that had shot her.

"I swear I thought it would. It was supposed to. I don't understand." He was babbling somewhat coherently.

"Yet her heart remains beating in her chest." Cora said darkly. Emma took a moment to be grateful that her wrath was directed at someone other than her family, Killian, or her.

"It must be something wrong with your magic." Emma winced. This guard clearly lacked any kind of thinking skills or he would have said anything but that last sentence.

It only took a moment for her to reach into his chest and take out his own heart, "It would seem my magic is working just fine." Cora said darkly before crushing it while he watched with horror. She stood there for a moment looking at the dead man at her feet with a cold stare.

"You can't have your heart ripped out?" Of all the times that he had looked at her with awe and admiration, this had to be the top one. He was so genuinely relieved that he had completely forgotten the circumstances that they were in because he was so happy that she was alive and more importantly, that her heart could never be taken out.

"No. It can't."

"I hate breaking away from the initial plan, but I must make exceptions when necessary. She sent a dark glare towards Emma _my bad, next time I'll just let you kill me, _before turning her attention towards the pirate.

_Well shit. _Emma was the product of true love, pure magic that could protect her heart, even in her weakest form. Killian on the other hand, did not benefit like she did.

"If I can't ruin you, I'll just have to ruin her." Emma struggled to bring herself up off the ground but to no avail, she wasn't strong enough to move let alone get up and physically stop Cora.

"Goodbye Captain." He was looking at straight at her as Cora reached her hand back. Emma felt a strong feeling in her stomach that she couldn't quite pinpoint. All she knew was the she wanted to protect him from Cora no matter what the cost was. Her insides twisted and she started to feel a tingling in her fingertips, something oddly comforting. The protective instinct increased the closer Cora got to Killian until it was burning through her entire body just waiting to explode.

"Emma." He gave her a small smile, like he was accepting his fate and she lost it. A pulse of light shot through the small room, hitting every single person and sending them flying backwards.

_Magic._

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**Well? I hope it was good/ you liked it. Like I said, probably have about 1-2 chapters left depending on the length and such. Just want to say thanks for sticking by and all that good stuff. You guys are awesome! **

**As always leave a comment and let me know what you think. 3**


	16. Chapter 16

**I am the worst person ever! I really really am. It's terrible. Please don't hate me. Life is being stupid and it's not getting anywhere. So this chapter is super late and a little shorter, but it is something. So, enjoy and I will hopefully post the last chapter soon :) **

* * *

Killian was the first to wake up after the blast from Emma. It only took him a moment to assess the situation, Cora and Regina as well as the remaining guards were knocked unconscious and Emma was on the opposite side of the room barely moving. With some effort he stood up and made his way over to her quickly. She was still awake, _thank the gods for that, _but she was so pale her complexion put her mother to shame.

"Hey beautiful." He smiled down at her and moved a stray hair from her face gently.

"Seriously?" She said with a weak smile, he nodded, "I'll always think you're beautiful love."

"You're so full of it." He ignored her gaze and glanced at her shoulder wearily, "It looks bad." He gestured towards it.

"Really? Cause it hurts like a bitch." Despite the circumstances he found himself laughing. _Always stubborn Swan. _

He gently moved the sleeve of her shirt down her shoulder to get a view of the damage. _Damn, _it looked worse than he had anticipated. Her entire shoulder was bruised and the gash was oozing puss.

"You know Emma when I imagined myself taking off your clothes this wasn't exactly how I envisioned it." He out on the best flirtatious smile he could muster as he unbuttoned the vest to get a better view of her whole shoulder.

"Do you ever have moments when a sexual innuendo doesn't come out of your mouth?"

"Now where's the fun in that. Besides, you love it." _Love, _he hadn't expected to use that word so sincerely ever again, yet here he was trying to lighten the mood with it.

"Love, now hang on a second, this isn't some fairytale you know." She winced as he grazed her shoulder trying to reach for his rum.

"I don't know, a pirate and a princess sounds like a fairytale to me." He smiled.

"Yeah, you should have seen my father's face." She smiled and he felt his heart skip a beat. She was bleeding out in front of him and she was still stunning.

"I think I value my face more than seeing your fathers personally." He didn't want to think about the immediate reaction of Emma's parents.

"Eh, if it makes you feel better my mother is probably scarier. She shot an arrow straight into an ogre's eye when she hadn't shot one in 28 years."

"Now that you mention it, your father seems like a delight. Now hold still, this is going to sting." He warned pulling the cork out with his teeth.

She cried out the second the rum hit her skin. If it had hurt on the small cut on top of the beanstalk, he couldn't begin to imagine how much it hurt now.

"I'm sorry love."

"It's nothing." She said through gritted teeth as she tried to sit up but failed miserably. "You have to get Henry." She said using all her strength to push him away, which wasn't much.

"I'm not leaving you Swan, not again." He brushed her arms away and tried to clean the gash but it wasn't doing any good. The harder he tried to clean it the worse it got.

"Bloody poison." He mumbled under his breath.

"Killian I'm serious. You have to get Henry, you have to get him out of here." She tried to push him again but she couldn't even lift her arms. He wanted to cry out in frustration, he had just gotten her back and he was about to lose her again.

"Swan, if you think for one bloody second that I am going to give up on you then you don't know me." He had spent 300 years trying to avenge the woman he loved, he'd be damned if he let another one go.

"Look, I can't move, not even if I wanted to and I don't know if Henry is okay. I can't have you wasting your energy on me when he is the one in danger." She insisted despite him making it perfectly obvious he was staying.

"Swan, Regina cares about Henry, there is nothing she wouldn't do for that boy, even if it is twisted. You, well you on the other hand are not so lucky. Plus Cora doesn't seem to be the biggest fan of you either. From what I've seen, you are in far more danger than your son."

"I'm not asking." She implored trying to push him away again and failing miserably.

"And I'm not leaving, so it would seem we've reached an impasse." He argued.

"You're the biggest pain in the ass I have ever met." She shot him a glare.

"That was the goal." At that she rolled her eyes, at least she was well enough to do that.

"So what exactly do you propose we do? Wait until they wake up and ask them to fix it." She responded impatiently. She definitely had a point. He had to get them both out of there before Cora and Regina came to but Emma wasn't strong enough to move and he wasn't sure he could carry her fast enough to get to Henry and get the hell out of there. "I'm working on it."

"Yes, well I've already worked on it and I don't really see another option." She insisted.

"I'm not above kissing you to shut you up darling." He said with a somewhat joking smile.

"That sounds really bad considering that I can't fight you back right now." She stuck her tongue out at him.

"If you don't want me to kiss you love, you should put that tongue back in your mouth." He gave her his signature smirk.

She rolled her eyes again, "Like that would really stop you."

"Want to find out?" He waggled his eyebrows at her.

"Do you really think this is the most appropriate time to…" He didn't even let her finish the sentence. He leaned in, pressing his lips to hers, warmth spreading through his body. It was unlike any other kiss he had ever experienced (And that was saying something considering he had hit retirement age over 250 years ago).

It took him a moment to realize that he was getting pulled closer and he felt hands tangling in his hair. He pulled away surprised, looking at the wound on her shoulder, or lack thereof. "Bloody hell."

"Well I guess there is no denying it now." She had a sly smirk on her face as she sat up.

"I'm lost." He said still looking at her clean shoulder.

She sighed exasperatedly, "True loves kiss." She readjusted her top and started to stand upright, "It's supposed to be the most powerful magic of all." It took him a moment to register what she meant, "It wasn't poison…"

"It was a curse." She finished, reaching her hand out for him. He stared at it for a minute in wonder, "Come on, we need to get Henry." She said shaking her hand and snapping him back to reality.

"Have I ever told you that you are bloody amazing" he asked sincerely as he took her hand.

"Not nearly enough, now let's go before they wake up." She nodded towards Regina and Cora who were still unconscious from the looks of it.

"Aye, let's go." He nodded and followed close behind, keeping a careful eye on the pair.

* * *

As much as she would like to focus on how grateful she was to be alive or the fact that Killian Jones was the one who had managed to save her, the only thing she could think about was Henry. She hadn't seen her son in months and she was so close to seeing him again.

"Do you actually know where he is?" She shouted as she chased after him, running down the endless hallways of the dark castle.

"I do. When I managed to escape the first time, I was able to navigate my way over there." She stopped abruptly at the implication of his words, "You chose to go after him after you escaped?" _You risked your freedom to save my son. _

"Of course I did, don't act so bloody surprised. Listen love, as much as I would enjoy this conversation, perhaps we can have it at a better time, when our lives aren't in grave danger?" She nodded and chased after him, still surprised at the admission. He had put her first and she wasn't even use to her family doing that, much less someone else.

After a few more winding corridors they came up to a large door, much larger than any other door she had seen. "Is this it?" she asked hesitantly. It was nearly impossible to not get her hopes up right now, not when she could be so close to him.

"Aye, Regina seems to have put some sort of enchantment on it, make it impossible for him to get out." Emma had to hold back her anger; she couldn't understand how you could lock someone away if you claimed to love them.

"So how do we get in?" She asked, looking at him and praying that he had another insane plan up his sleeve.

"Well given your new found abilities, you could probably manage to counter whatever it is that she did." _Great, _this all came back to her and the magical abilities that she had absolutely no hope of controlling. She stood there for a minute, concentrating on the door as much as she could, but of course, nothing happened.

"I can't…" She hated how weak her voice sounded. They had come so far. They had risked so much and were going to fail because she had no idea what the fuck she was doing.

"Yes you can Emma. You are the strongest, smartest, most irritating woman I have ever met. There is nothing that you can't do." He said taking a step towards her, lifting her chin to look at her. How anyone managed to understand every fear, doubt, and completely counteract it with one look was a mystery to her. Yet somehow, Killian Jones had managed to do it without even trying.

"Mom?" The voice was faint but distinct. Her heart swelled at the sound of his voice, every emotion coming over her all at once.

"Henry!"

"Mom! You're here! You found me!" He sounded so excited and she wished that she could see his face right now, that she could give him the world's biggest hug.

"Yeah kid, I'm here." She said, tears were making it hard to see straight but she couldn't bring herself to care, Henry was there and there was nothing that she couldn't do. "Listen Henry. I don't know what's about to happen but you better step back." Killian also seemed to take the hint and moved back a few paces to give her room to do…whatever the hell it was that she was doing.

_Please please please let this work. _She stared at the door, a hard but determined expression on her face. Closing her eyes, she imagined whatever barrier was around the door and in her mind, shot at it. There was a loud crash, whether it was something that she imagined or it had actually happened but when she opened her eyes, the door was gone and standing right beyond the doorway was her son.

"Mom!" She opened her arms and he came running after her, nearly knocking her over from the impact. She didn't even notice though, she was so relieved and happy that he was in her arms that the entire castle could have fallen apart and she wouldn't have noticed.

"I missed you so much." She said squeezing him tightly.

"I missed you too." They sat there for a few moments just holding each other. Eventually, Henry pulled away and turned towards the pirate standing a few feet away. "You helped my mom?" He nodded wordlessly and suddenly Henry was running to him and hugging him tightly. Killian looked bewildered to say the least, but wrapped his arms around him tightly.

"Thank you." He said after he had pulled away. He nodded again before looking at her, "Anything for you lad." Her heart melted at the sight.

"Well isn't that just touching?" The cool voice interrupted. Emma looked up to see Regina and Cora both standing in front of them watching with both anger and amusement.

"Quite an impressive show there my dear, I must admit. But don't take that as a sign that you won." Cora began coolly, looking intently at Killian and Henry.

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***backs away slowly* Would it make you feel better if I said that part of why this is so late is because I'm working on something new?**


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